Shadow Bound
by Keiko Fujiwara
Summary: Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!
1. Part 1

**Author's Note**: Until I have decided where I want _Serendipity _to go, I will put that story also aside. I swear I have not given up on it because I love the idea so much; I just need to figure out where I would like to restart it again. For _My Normal is when I'm with You_, I have decided to finish up the story once I also figure out where to put a stopping point to it. If I have not returned to these two stories, I hope the new season will help inspire me to work on them again.

**Second Author's Note: **As you all know, _One Litre of Tears_is wrapping up…I think there will be no more than five chapters and an epilogue left so keep your Kleenexes nearby!

**Third Author's Note: **Don't forget about the BATB Appreciation Challenge I am putting together! If you want to be a part of this, PLEASE watch the video: (YT + [/watch?v=D9utbfKgwM4]). Instead of emailing your messages, you may PM them to me over FanFiction if that'll be easier. Deadline for all messages is September 30th! Thank you! :)

**Fourth Author's Note: **This story may seem a little confusing so let me give a little explanation before you start reading it. First of all, I've decided to put a little twist to V's Beast within this fanfiction. Because, in the show, Vincent has always self-loathed his beast-side before Catherine came into the picture, I'm going to have Vincent consider himself apart from the Beast. Think of it this way: Vincent and Beast share the same body—only the appearances change. Beast obviously has his own personality apart from Vincent.

To clarify some of the other confusion, whenever Vincent says something to the beast in _'…'_, it means he's talking to Beast's consciousness. Whenever Beast retaliates in some way, it's through Beast's consciousness; not the actual body. I guess you could say it's sort of like both sides of Vincent's split personality are present within his mind no matter which form V is in. When V is human, his human consciousness has more control because Beast has no desire to come out when life seems boring to him. Basically, Beast's consciousness sits back and watches the show. When V's humanity switches to the Beast, Beast's consciousness is in more control because he has a stronger will. He lets V's humanity take over again once the messy job is done.

Hopefully as this story goes along, it'll all make more sense.

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**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

"Have that meeting again tonight?" I ask my best friend as he puts on his jacket.

"Yeah." He says before walking over to me and sits down on the sofa to tie his shoes. "It's mandatory for tenured professors."

"Wait…you've been teaching for, what, two years and you already have tenure?" I look at him with bewilderment.

"Yep! It's a good thing bio-chemists are hard to come by or else I'd probably still be looking for a job and living with my mom." We both think about the 'could-have-been' future and shudder. "Thank GOD that is not the case."

"Yeah…she probably would still remind you to change your underwear every morning before you left to find a job." I laugh at the thought. "She WAS very hygienic if I remember correctly."

JT joins me in laughing and shakes his head. "You have NO idea how glad I am to have you back in my life, V. If only the world could know…"

"You know you can't tell anyone, JT…" I say with a warning look. "I hate hiding away like this but how else am I supposed to live? I can't risk the lives of my mother or Alex…it's better if both of them continue thinking I'm dead; it's the only way to keep them safe from Muirfield."

"But yet, you go ahead and add my name to the ENDANGERED list right underneath yours." JT says before tsking me.

"What? I had to have SOMEONE to mooch off of." I shrug my shoulders.

"Cute…very cute." He rolls his eyes before standing up. "Now, V, whatever you decide to do," he leans close to my ear, then shouts, "DON'T LEAVE THE WAREHOUSE!"

"YOW!" I exclaim. "DUDE! SENSITIVE HEARING, REMEMEBER?! ARE YOU TRYING TO BURST MY EARDRUM?!"

"Sorry V but the last time I told you to stay, it didn't turn out very well. Now…I don't want to come home and find an acquaintance from high school passed out on the sofa with an empty syringe lying on the table."

"Oh come on, JT. He saw me so I had to do something!" I try to defend myself but he gives me a look of disdain.

"YOU INJECTED HIM WITH ZIPICLONE!" JT throws his hands up.

"Yeah…And?" I smirk. "Last I checked it's not illegal for doctors to prescribe Zipiclone to their patients."

"V, first of all, you're not a doctor anymore…well not a licensed doctor anyways…Second, you don't just inject hypnotizing juice into every person who recognizes you and then compel them to think they were hallucinating! That's…not normal!"

"Newsflash, man! I'm. Not. Normal." I try to say with a straight face but it ends up becoming a smirk. "Come on, dude. You had to at least think it was a little bit funny."

"That's not the point…I had to look up his name in the phonebook, drive him home and dump him on his front porch. I definitely DO NOT want to repeat that episode! Now, stay here and be a good messed-up super soldier while I go to the university to brief the other professors of my research findings concerning RNA Interface."

"Gee…thanks…" I roll my eyes. "You know, you should apply to be a nanny…you're already a pro."

"Yeah, yeah. You've said that before." JT says as he turns around to head out the door. "I mean it, V. DON'T GO ANYWHERE."

"Don't worry, I promise to stay put." I reply as I pick up the remote and turn on the TV.

"Good. You better." JT says in a warning tone but I ignore it. The worst he can do to me is sending a tranquilizer dart up my ass. Not much damage at all.

About fifteen minutes after JT is long gone, I leap to my feet to grab my dark jacket and baseball cap. JT just doesn't understand my position in all of this. Yes, I am hiding from a powerful and well-resourced governmental group but what are the odds of Muirfield finding me in NYC? The city itself is way too overpopulated for it to even be a problem. I know I have to keep my guard up but I've traveled for 6 months before returning to New York City and nothing has happened yet.

Every once in a while; I just need to refresh my head and walk away from the city-life. So, without further ado, I lock up the warehouse and leap towards the darkness, away from the city.

**Beauty and the Beast**

I find myself wandering around in Westchester, New York when my burner phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket, knowing who's calling me and answer the phone. "Hello?"

"_What part of STAY AT THE WAREHOUSE do you not understand?! Do you know how incredibly pissed I am right now?!" _

"Calm down, JT before you pop a vein. I'm fine, all right? I just needed some air; I'll be back shortly, okay?"

"_Where are you? I'll pick you up."_ JT states but I shake my head even though he can't see me.

"I'm in Westchester."

"_How the hell did you get all the way over to Westchester in that short amount of time?!"_

"I walked." I say sarcastically. "You already know how, JT."

"_Is this going to be an every night occurrence?" _

"No…just when I really want to piss you off." I snicker as I finally reach the end of the woods. Suddenly, my breath is instantly taken away. I see a beautiful young woman with brunette, braided, pig-tailed hair finish locking up _Salty Dog_ before heading towards the dumpster with a large trash bag in each of her hands. "I've…gotta go…" My voice fades away as I quietly close my phone to place it back into my pocket.

Who is this young woman? Why does she seem so…familiar?

I creep a little closer and hide amongst the shadows as I watch her open a dumpster and scream when a harmless raccoon climbs out of it. Silently, I laugh to myself at her ridiculousness but cannot help but keep staring at her. I'm normally not like this…I don't just hide in the shadows like some stalker guy and spy on women… I don't know why but I feel a connection with her…even though I've never met her. Isn't that strange?

Maybe I've reverted to some kind of primal pervert since Muirfield because I can't seem to tear my eyes away from this beautiful, college woman. Come to think of it…she IS the first woman I've seen since moving in with JT. She enters her car, tries to start it but fails. Maybe I should offer my help? Then again…maybe it's best I stay here. She pulls out her phone and I hear her say with a shaking, cold voice, "Hi Mom…"

As I listen to her conversation, I cannot help but wish I could be there to help her out. I really want to meet her but…my inner gut (which sounds a lot like JT at the moment) tells me to stay out of site.

I'm not sure if it's because of the new DNA I have within my body or because I'm a man but I feel…protective of her…like…if I take my eyes away from her at this very second, something bad will happen.

For the next 45 minutes, she stays inside her car as she tries not to shiver to death. If only there was some way I could give her my jacket! Anything would suffice rather than seeing her suffer like this! Just as I am about to make my decision to approach her, I hear tires coming down the road. Then, I see a Chinese woman park her car in front of _her_ car before getting out.

I take a good look at this older woman and swear I've seen her before! She looks so familiar yet I can't put my finger on it! Since the younger woman looks very similar to the older woman, there's no question that they're mother and daughter. The daughter finally gets out of her vehicle to pop her trunk as her mother pulls out some jumper cables before popping her own trunk.

While the older woman connects the cables to both cars, she says, "Electrical AIM with outerwear." She looks at her daughter before adding, "Could you put that on?! It's freezing out here!"

"I'm sorry I dragged you all the way out here." The daughter replies as she puts her jacket on. "But…the good news is: I made a lot of tips!"

"Enough to cover tuition?"

"Uhhhh…books…for like one class." _she_ laughs and I can't help but smile.

"You're just lucky I'm on call…HE would have killed you." The mother says in reference to her husband (I assume).

"No…It wasn't luck." _she_ smiles. "You always come running when I need you."

I hear another car coming towards us but its familiarity causes me to freeze. I can smell their bloodlust. Could they be Muirfield? What would Muirfield want with these women? Wait? Could it be I know the older woman from the project?

"Hey! We're closed!" The daughter exclaims. "Hello!? We're closed!"

"We're good here!" The older Chinese woman calls out.

I watch as two men exit the black automobile before they start approaching the women. Suddenly, the mother starts yelling, "GET IN MY CAR!" multiple times to her daughter as both men pull out handguns. "NOW! GO!"

In an instant, one man pulls his trigger and shoots the mother several times.

"MOM!" the daughter screams but the moment she hears another shot fire towards her, she bolts towards the woods away from my sight. The men follow her but I quickly rush over to the older woman.

I check her pulse but realize I need to work quickly. I start unbuckling my belt to tie it around her artery but she manages to stop me by grabbing my hands. "My…daughter…Save Catherine…save her." The look of her eyes tells me everything; somehow, I know this woman whether it's with Muirfield or not with Muirfield.

I look towards the direction the young woman ran off to and nod. "All right but you need to hang in there, ma'am."

"Go!" her voice is dry but still demanding. "Leave…me! Go! Muirfield…must be…be….stopped…. Only you can save her!"

"H-how do you know about Muirfield?" I ask her.

Before she could answer her body finally falls free from tension as she draws in her last breath. I close her eyelids with my fingers and stand to my feet.

Without a second glance, I rush off towards Catherine, hoping I arrive in time.

**Beauty and the Beast**

I mentally scream at my feet to go faster but it's no use; there's no way I can reach her in time unless I…NO! I can't! I can't do that; it'll scare her more than the guys with the gun! Suddenly, a phrase Catherine's mother said plagued my mind: _Only you can save her. _Could she know what Muirfield did to me? Was she actually there? Thousands of questions filled my mind but I did know one thing: Catherine and I are connected through her mother…which is why, I must save her.

Deciding to risk everything in order to save Catherine, I throw away my fears and allow the Beast to consume my humanity. My muscles ripple and my vein blacken before I feel like I'm trapped within my own body as Beast emerges. Beast sniffs the air to try to catch onto Catherine's aroma. He points my nose in several directions, attempting to focus on her scent.

'_Anytime' _I mentally tell Beast. _'Her life is kind of on the line; no rush though.' _

I hear Beast snarl at me, signaling me to back off and let him do the work. Yeesh. Without warning, my body starts zipping through the trees as my alter-ego locks onto Catherine's scent. We've found her.

As we approach the scene, we see Catherine lying on the ground and begging for her life. "Pl-please!" She starts crying as one of the men points his gun at her. "Pl-please!"

Just as he is about to pull the trigger, the Beast and I couldn't wait any longer. We spring into action and Beast rips both of those men apart with his claws. He growls loudly as he kills his prey and all I can think about is what will Catherine think?

Beast finishes the last touch and, for a split second, I regained control over my body to look at the young woman we just saved. _'Catherine'_

She looks at Beast as we approach her but I personally cannot tell if she's afraid of us or if she's looking at us with curiosity. She scoots backward and I hear Beast emit a growl. _'Smooth.'_ I tell him so Beast's conscious bares his teeth at me. She stops panicking and stares deep into our eyes—my eyes. I can feel my humanity starting to regain control again. I can tell the look in her eyes wants me to stay with her but I know I can't. It's too risky and I would be putting her life in danger—again. I can't take that risk no matter how much I want to say a simple hi to her.

To avoid showing her my identity, I gain control over my legs and run away from her as the rest of my body shifts back into my human form. I turn to look back at her from a safe distance and couldn't help but want to reach out to her as she starts to cry. Who could blame her? She's lost her mother and almost lost her life in the process! I'd be a mess too! I desperately wanted to lend her a helping hand but, again, I can't take that risk. If she saw me as I am now, I have a feeling she wouldn't want to leave me. The first thing a person normally does after he or she loses someone close to him or her, he or she seems to latch onto someone for comfort—I can't afford to be that person for Catherine. She needs someone who can be there for her twenty-four/seven.

Not someone who will constantly run away in order to stay hidden.

That's my future: hiding in a dusty warehouse for the rest of my life. I hate to say it but…I'm forever shadow-bound and not even JT can save me from this damnation.

**Beauty and the Beast**

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**Keiko Fujiwara: **All right, this story will be a pretty short one. I have at most two more chapters in store for this fanfiction so I hope you've enjoyed its first chapter! :) By the way, did the split-personality ordeal make sense? Let me know if it didn't so I can revise it.

Review please!


	2. Part 2

**Author's Note**: This may be a longer story; who knows. Let's see what happens once I'm done with this chapter. If I see more promise in it, I may expand the story to a 'what if' scenario. I haven't decided yet, though. I'll let my fingers to the talking.

Now, on with the story! (ง'̀-'́)ง

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**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Two_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

* * *

If JT knew what I'm doing tonight, he would seriously have a heart attack. I worry him enough just by staying at the warehouse while he's at work so he doesn't need the extra stress. Besides, I'm a big boy—a really big boy; I can definitely take care of myself.

Okay—maybe not against Muirfield but that's beside the point.

It has been a year since I saved Catherine from those hit-men. Well, almost a year. It's only been seven months but who's counting?

I never left Catherine Chandler the night her mother was killed. Sure, I may have fled the scene of the crime but I remained close by in case any other Muirfield agents were in the area. Also, I wanted to make sure she arrived home safely; she deserved at least that much from me.

Beast, however, wanted to sniff out the trail of those agents but my fixation with Catherine enabled me to control his leash, suppressing his power over me. I don't know why but there's something about her—about Catherine—that makes me capable of controlling Beast.

Why is that, I wonder?

Tonight, I plan on seeing her again—from the shadows, of course. I have to see her; I have to know she's okay; that she has moved on. Only then, will I be able to move on from her. Or so I think.

"I'm serious, V; don't let your Beastie friend out to play tonight. Stay in the warehouse and keep him on his leash." JT states as he grabs his car keys. "If I find out you've left for a midnight stroll, I'm going to be seriously pissed off."

For a split second, Beast takes over my body and growls at him. JT jumps backwards as Beast lets out a gravelly laugh.

"Dude! Put him away!" JT begs us and Beast lets me hold the reigns again.

"Sorry," I say, regretfully. "I didn't mean to let that happen…I still have trouble controlling him…."

"Whatever, man! I know Mr. Hyde won't ever hurt me since he needs me for survival but seriously?! He's creeping me out!" JT complains.

"Again, I'm sorry…. Not to burst your bubble but I don't think Beast would need you for survival, man. He's a beast for crying out loud. He can survive all on his own if he wanted to." I reply to my best friend's comment.

"Dude! Don't give him any ideas!" JT snaps.

"Relax, JT. Beast only comes out when he's either pissed off or when he's needed. He doesn't make an unnecessary appearance." I say even though I have no idea what this other identity is capable of. I'm still learning the ropes so to speak.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely…not." I state. "But I've been able to recognize a pattern so I think…as long as you don't piss him off or give him a reason to emerge, we won't have a problem."

JT finally leaves for his class so I take a few minutes to do some inner soul searching. I sit on my bed and close my eyes before focusing on Beast's consciousness rather than my surroundings.

His consciousness looks at me strangely, wondering why I want to speak to him. He knows he ruined my life so I can understand why he's confused._ "Tell me," _I state in my mind, _"What sort of…Beast…are you?" _What else am I to call him?

He doesn't answer. He just stares at me like I'm his prey. Is he looking for a way to suppress me—his humanity?

"_Why don't you hurt JT?"_

He still does not answer.

Realizing I'm not going to get any answers from him, I return to my senses and decide it's time to leave for Catherine's. I tug my jacket on, turn off the lights, lock the doors and head out of the warehouse. JT may be pissed at me but I don't care. I must see her—erm—I mean, check up on her.

**Beauty and the Beast**

It's been seven months since that fateful night and I can see that Catherine has indeed turned her life around. I hear loud music and lots of laughing coming from her college apartment and, for a moment, I wish I was there—with her. I can see her from the roof of the building across the street. She's laughing and hugging her friends as she opens up their gifts. I couldn't help but smile as I watch her have such a good time with her loved ones.

"Happy Birthday Cat!" her friends chant in unison. She's very lucky to be surrounded by people who care deeply for her. It must be a nice life.

I watch for a few more hours (in a non-creepy way, of course) and see Catherine thanking her guests for attending her party. When the apartment is almost empty aside from Catherine and some guy, I get a sick feeling inside my stomach. Something's off. For one, why hasn't that guy left? Why is his blood thumping a million miles a minute!

When he approaches her, Catherine gives him a soft kiss and thanks him for helping her set up the party. However, he doesn't say 'You're welcome' or 'No problem'; he just staring at her like some sick animal. I know this sick feeling isn't jealousy—it can't be. If I were jealous, Beast would be charging at this man by now. So, it can't be jealousy…Can it?

"Bryan, I hate to say this but I have work tomorrow so I need to get some sleep." I hear Catherine say to the guy. "So, would you mind leaving a little early tonight?"

"Sleep…right." Bryan replies but doesn't move.

"Seriously, Bryan…I need you to leave." Catherine states firmly as she taps her toe to the wooden floor.

"You can sleep later, babe." Bryan smirks before sweeping her into his arms and trapping her against her bed. He starts kissing her but I can tell she's not in the mood to be on the receiving end. She tries to push him off of her but he's too strong and too buff for her tiny body.

"Get off of me!" she shouts but he doesn't listen. Just as I am about to release Beast and throw his sorry ass out of her window, I see him double over in pain as she kicks him in the groin. "I told you to leave, Bryan; now, leave!"

Once he's recovered from her attack, he slams his fist into her eye and tells her to shut up if she knows what's good for her. He tries to kiss her again but she punches him square in the mouth, TWICE!

Beast decides to lay low for a while and simply watch the show; he's enjoying every moment of Catherine's new kick-ass moves. I, however, feel sick to my stomach. I hate the thought of Catherine being hurt in any way; she doesn't deserve that low-life and if Beast doesn't decide to do something about it—Vincent Keller will.

To my surprise, Catherine certainly holds her own. Eventually, she manages to send Bryan running with his tale between his legs. "Forget you, bitch!" Bryan shouts as he runs out of the apartment.

Catherine may have let him off easy; however, Beast and I have a surprise in store for the poor fella. We track him down to the next building over and I decide to let Beast have some playtime with Bryan. _'Just don't kill him.'_ I tell Beast as he takes over my body.

Beast smirks sadistically before racing to find Bryan walking along the sidewalk. He immediately clamps our hand over Bryan's neck and raises him into the air.

"What the F***?!" Bryan shrieks but no one is around to save him.

'_Let me say something to him!' _I say to Beast's consciousness. _'We can't kill him but that doesn't mean I won't let you have some fun with him…Once I'm through saying what I want to say, I'll let you give him a nice kick into the groin... Don't overdo it though.'_

Beast seems to like my idea so he lets my mind filter through his for a brief moment to speak to Bryan. "You are to never approach Catherine Chandler again! If you so much think about her, you're in for a world of hurt, got that?!"

Bryan nods his head very quickly so I allow Beast to give him a little demonstration of 'what' could be done to him. Beast _lightly_ knees Bryan in the balls before tossing him to the ground. As he is about to pounce him, I mentally shout, _'THAT'S ENOUGH!'_ Beast stops dead in his tracks and his consciousness gives me a very peeved look. _'I TOLD YOU WE CAN'T KILL HIM! CATHERINE COULD GET IN TROUBLE IF POLICE FIND OUT SHE'S THE LAST PERSON TO SEE HIM!'_

Beast growls at me in frustration but, for the first time, he obeys my command. He backs away and runs our body to the nearest set of trees before allowing me to press the control buttons again. Day by day, Beast seems to listen to me ever since my encounter with Catherine seven months ago.

I wonder if he has a fascination with her too.

**Beauty and the Beast**

I perch myself on Catherine's fire escape and desperately want to speak with her…hold her in my arms. I look over to her bed and see her rocking back and forth, crying into her hands. That bastard did this to her! Maybe I should have let Beast kill him! I hear her utter words like, "It's my fault! It's all my fault!" over and over again and realize her crying has nothing to do with Bryan.

It has everything to do with her mother's death.

I wish I could open her window and tell her the truth. I wish I could just tell her everything I know about Muirfield and that her mother's death ISN'T her fault! Oh how I wish for a normal life, right now!

If there is anything I could wish for, it would be the entire destruction of Muirfield; they destroyed countless lives including mine, JT's and Catherine's. How many more people are going to suffer for their existence?

I press my hand against her window and whisper, "Stay strong, Catherine."

She immediately stops crying and gasps as if she's heard me. Could she have? As she turns to look towards her window, I immediately jump off of the fire escape and find myself hiding in a dark alley across from her apartment building.

I watch her climb out of her window and step onto the metal platform, looking for my presence. She looks left, right, up, down and then, somehow, her eyes land straight on me even though I know she cannot see me.

"Whoever you are," she whispers more to herself than to me, "Thank you for saving my life…. I hope we will meet some day so I can thank you properly."

With that, she stares in my direction for a few more seconds before returning to her apartment. I sigh. That was certainly a close call. I wonder if she knew her savior could hear her from such a far distance.

Who knows.

One day…

…I'd like to find out, though.

**Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: **Okay, so I think I see more promise in this story than I originally thought! I'm not sure how many chapters this one will be but I can see a few more chapters in its future! :)


	3. Part 3

**Author's Note**: You know that scoop which was sent to Spoiler TV concerning the synopsis update for BATB? Well, I'm the one who sent it in. ( ﾟヮﾟ)

_WriterFreak001 _(in case you haven't figured it out) is me! :)

* * *

**To Clarify quotations and stuff:**

_'…'_—Vincent's thoughts when he's 'thinking' directly to Beast.

_…_ —Vincent's personal thoughts

… — Normal narration

You'll eventually catch on. :)

* * *

**Now, on with the story! (**ง**'̀-'́)**ง

* * *

**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Three_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

Normally I wouldn't walk through the streets of New York City during the daytime but today is a special day—Catherine Chandler is joining the police force today and there's going to be a ceremony for it.

I know I can't exactly show up, say hi and tell her I'm the beast who saved her life four years ago but that doesn't mean I can't watch from a rooftop or something. I'm sure there are rooftops around her soon-to-be precinct—it IS New York City after all.

Either that or I could hide in an alley and watch from the street…

I'm sure I'll figure _something_ out. Besides, her future precinct's induction ceremony…if that's what the term is…is free to the public so maybe I can blend in and watch from the back of the room? Or balcony if there is one?

Just as I am walking underneath NYC in the tunnels towards the 125th precinct, my cell rings. I pull the burner out of my pocket and hesitantly answer, knowing just who is on the other line.

"What?" I ask, trying to play innocent.

"_Where the hell are you!?"_

"I'm in the tunnels." I state, as a matter-of-factly.

"_And what the HELL are you doing THERE?!"_

"I'm…exploring…" I lie. "I want to figure out just where all of these tunnels go in case we need to use them for any reason." That sounds legit, right?

"_You're lying." _JT states, right on track.

"Just chill, man. Don't worry about me. I'll be back before dinner, all right?" I say before ending the phone call. I really am not in the mood to listen to his lecturing. He does enough of that at work; I don't need to be another one of his students.

Once I find my way to the grate next to the precinct, I climb up the ladder and listen for any suspicious sounds. When I can't hear any, I pop the lid up and push myself through the hole in the ground. Before anyone could have a chance to see me, I quickly place the lid back down and dart to the nearest alley.

_All right… Now where do I go? _

As I approach the precinct's entrance, I see a sign taped to the glass doors, saying:

**NEW RECRUITMENT CEREMONY 1 PM **

**IN CENTRAL PARK! **

**CEREMONY WILL BE PERFORMED **

**WITHIN SHEEP MEADOW!**

Without further ado, I quickly jump back into the underground tunnels and race towards Central Park; this is certainly something I would hate to miss.

**Beauty and the Beast**

Once I arrive to Central Park, I make sure my disguise (beloved baseball cap and dark green trench coat) are intact with hopes of people NOT recognizing me. However, this is a risk I'm willing to take…for _her. _

After waiting in the shadows for nearly twenty minutes, the ceremony finally starts and soon enough, I see Catherine, along with the rest of the rookies, standing as tall as possible as each member is sworn into the precinct.

I couldn't help but smile when I hear Catherine's name being called on the microphone; I could tell she's certainly changed her life around. Hopefully her being a cop will chase away all of those bad boys she seems to attract.

When the ceremony ends, I still watch as I stay away from the large crowd. While everyone else is in the field congratulating the new recruits, I am standing underneath a tree with most of my body behind its large trunk.

Somehow, I doze off after watching Catherine mingle with some people and do not realize the presence standing next to me.

"Did you come here for the ceremony?" a female voice suddenly asks, shaking me out of my daze. I turn to look at the voice's owner and my heart skips a beat. _C-Catherine…_

I gulp and mutter almost inaudibly, "N-no…I needed some f-f-fresh air…. I didn't mean to stumble on the ceremony." _Good Going Keller…She'll never buy that lame excuse._

"Oh…Are you…new to the city? I haven't seen you around before."

"No…erm…it's a big city…. I wouldn't be surprised…" _Four years without talking to anyone other than JT has really put a toll on my communication skills._

"I guess you're right." She laughs more to herself than to me. "I guess…you and I have something in common."

"Really?" _We do?_

"Yeah…we both seem to hate large crowds." She says. "I'm Catherine."

"Um…V…at least that's what I'm called nowadays." As much as I would LOVE to give her my full name, phone number and street address, I can't risk Muirfield putting her back onto their radar. That would be selfish of me.

"Well…I can see you're not really in the talking mood so I'm just going to go now…. I hope to see you around, V." she smiles, filled with disappointment.

"Wait!" As she leaves, I instantly grab her arm. _What the hell are you doing, Keller?! _Then I realize, I wasn't the one who grabbed her arm—it was Beast! _What? So now Beast can control 'parts' of my body now?_

"Yes?" she looks at me with confusion so I draw my hand back; hoping Beast's claws didn't lash out on her.

I bite my lip for a second and take a breath. JT is SO going to kill me if he finds out about this… "Vincent…my name is Vincent."

When I told her my real name, she smiles. "Hi Vincent. It's nice to meet you."

"Ummm…Hi." I grin back as I extend my hand out to meet hers.

Out of nowhere, we hear a gunshot being fired. Catherine instantly whips around and pulls out her gun, pointing it in the direction of the bullet's source. I, however, am not handling the stress very well. When I heard that shot, I immediately thought Muirfield had found me and now, I'm struggling to keep Beast at bay for Catherine's sake.

I clutch the bark of the tree as my breathing escalates. Another bullet fires through the air, but this time, it hits very close to our location. _Please don't turn around._ _Whatever you do, please keep looking forward._

"Vincent, you need to run for cover." She states as if she's been a cop for a long time. "I can't let a civilian get hurt on my watch." I don't answer her; I keep quiet and focus on my heavy breathing—praying Beast calms himself down. When she doesn't hear my voice, she inevitably turns around. "Vincent, didn't you h—"

Her voice fades the instant she sees my condition. My nails have sharpened; my eyes are glowing, my fangs emerging and my veins blackening. "You…need…to…go…" I say in sharp breaths. The last thing I want to happen is for Beast to hurt her…

"What's happening?" she asks in a somewhat fearful voice.

"Get…away…from…me…."

When she wouldn't move, I push past her and rush off into the trees, hoping she doesn't follow me. Despite my efforts to keep Beast submerged, he suppresses my humanity and takes complete control over my body. _'Whatever you do, do not roar! Hear me!? If Muirfield is out there, the LAST thing we want is to grab their attention.' _

Beast snarls at me but I can tell he agrees. Beast may seem like this savage…barbarian but, in reality and to my surprise, he's actually quite intelligent. He knows when he's needed—sometimes he 'thinks' he's needed when he really isn't, but he's always there when my survival instincts kick in.

Beast and I hear another gunshot aiming towards the tree line so we decide its best to lay low. We find a small lift so we jump down a few feet and stand completely still, hoping we've lost the sniper. _How did Muirfield find us? Unless…Unless they noticed Catherine's name in the paper and were aiming at her to tie loose ends…. That would make sense…. Then maybe they were aiming at me by coincidence? _

Suddenly, we hear someone shout, "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

_Catherine?! Why did she follow me?! I could have sworn she would be forming a task force by now!_

"I NEED TO SPEAK WITH YOU!" she shouts. Beast wants to shut her up because he thinks she's drawing too much attention but I yank his consciousness back from the control center before he could even think to lay a single finger on her and with a lot of strength and energy, I re-suppress the beast. "I KNOW YOU'RE OUT HERE!"

I sigh, if I don't die in these forests right now, JT's going to kill me anyways so I might as well face her now. I jump back up the small cliff, causing her to fall backwards.

When she starts to speak again, I rush over to her and clamp my hand to her mouth and whisper, "Quiet!"

Without a response, she silences herself. I listen for any followers and motion her to quietly stand to her feet since I can hear three men walking towards us as they're loading their artillery. Once she's on her feet, I pull her close to me and leap off of the cliff again. To my surprise, she doesn't scream. When I land, I place her down and gesture her to follow me quietly—she does.

My exit strategy works for nearly fifteen minutes until Catherine accidentally kicks a boulder, stubbing her toe and causing her to yelp in pain.

"She's over there!" a man yells from a distance. _So they DON'T know I'm here…. _I clamp her mouth again and pull her into my arms so we can keep running. This time, however, I rely on Beast's super speed to increase our distance from the agents.

Without her consent, I manage to carry her from the park and into the tunnels without leaving a single trace other than the dust from my speed. When we reach what I think is a safe enough distance from the tunnel entrance, I put her down on the cement and take a seat next to her. "It's safe to talk now."

"What's going on?" she asks almost instantly? "Who were they? Who are you?! WHAT are you?!"

"Calm down, Catherine." I say. "I'll answer any questions you have…well at least the ones I CAN answer, anyways."

"Fine…let's start with my first question: Who were those men?"

"They were Muirfield agents...My guess is they were sent to kill you."

"Kill me, but why? What did I do?!" she panics but I place my hand on her arm and try to calm her down.

"You did nothing, Catherine…. Other than survive the first time…." I hint towards her, hoping she could put two and two together.

She widens her eyes and utters, "Oh my God!" She immediately looks back at me, "Th-they were hit-men? Like the time before?!"

"Yes…in a way…." I reply as subtly as I can. "They were simply trying to clean up their mess from four years ago."

"H-how do you know about that?" she asks, cautiously. "How do you know about this group who wanted my mother dead? The police report listed it off as a—"

"A hit and run…I know, I read the newspaper clip." I finish her statement.

"Then how?" Her eyes are filled with so many questions.

"Ummmm…Remember what you saw before I sort of pushed you out of my way to run into the woods?" I ask, hoping she would so I wouldn't have to go into full explanation mode.

"Yeah…y-you…you looked—"

"Ugly? Hideous? Monstrous?" I interrupt her again, knowing I've just insulted my alter-ego's pride.

"I was going to say different." Catherine states.

"Oh. Well…. That…'different' look you saw…it wasn't the first time you've seen something so strange, was it?" I ask, leading her on.

She thinks for a moment then her eyes look straight at me. "You're telling me you're the one who saved me all of those years ago?"

"Yeah…" I say.

I can tell tears are welling up in her eyes so I add, "Catherine…I tried to save your mother but she wanted me to go after you…. She knew what I was…"

"How?"

"I'm not sure." I say.

She looks up at me and, for the first time, sees the scar on my right cheek. She traces her fingers along the jagged mark and asks, "What happened to you?"

I sigh. Here goes nothing. Literally nothing since I'm technically already six-feet down and under. "Well…it's a long story, you see…"

**Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: **Hmmmm…as I was typing this chapter, I suddenly had a GREAT idea for this story so it's going to be a little bit longer than expected. Be happy! Don't worry for those canon-lovers; eventually it will revert back to the canon version—just with a twist! Don't you love those!?

REVIEW PLEASE! (ಥ﹏ಥ)


	4. Part 4

**Author's Note**: It's been a cRaZy week for me! 1) Found out my grandmother was sent to the hospital b/c she fell and BROKE HER HIP! Then I had to work ALL day Wednesday, spent 5.5 hours at the hospital on FRIDAY and TODAY, above all days, is my grandfather's birthday. Soooo…yeah, it's a bit crazy and I needed somewhere to vent. ^_^;

**Now, on with the story! (**ง**'̀-'́)**ง

* * *

**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**Last time on **_**Shadow Bound**_**:**

_I can tell tears are welling up in her eyes so I add, "Catherine…I tried to save your mother but she wanted me to go after you…. She knew what I was…" _

"_How?" _

"_I'm not sure." I say._

_She looks up at me and, for the first time, sees the scar on my right cheek. She traces her fingers along the jagged mark and asks, "What happened to you?"_

_I sigh. Here goes nothing. Literally nothing since I'm technically already six-feet down and under. "Well…it's a long story, you see…"_

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Four_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

Just before I am about to tell her EVERYTHING, my damn cell phone starts going off. "Could you…could you wait right here for a minute?" I ask hoping she would nod her head or say an audible yes—not that it has to even be audible, of course.

"Sure…" she sighs. "Don't go too far though."

"Right." I state before I walk a few steps away from her to answer my phone. "WHAT?!" I snap.

"_Don't "WHAT" me, V! You told me you were exploring the tunnels like three hours ago! How the hell does it take three freaking hours to go 'exploring'?! Where are you, really?!"_

"I told you, JT, I'm in the tunnels!" I exclaim anxiously. "Look, man, I'm not trying to be rude but it's a really bad time to call me right now."

"_W-w-why!? I-i-is it Muirfield? A-are they following you?!" _

_Not exactly…. _"No…. Not anymore at least. Listen, I'll be at the warehouse shortly all right? Just don't have a heart attack until AFTER I return."

"_Oh my God! We have to move, don't we?! Muirfield has found you and now we have to drop everything and head for Canada!" _

"Calm down, JT!" I literally shout, causing Catherine to raise her eyebrow at me. "Listen, we don't need to move. They weren't after me... Hell, I don't even think they knew I was in the area…. Listen, I gotta go, man. I'm kinda in the middle of something and NO! It isn't Muirfield, all right! So you can just continue what you're doing because everything is fine!"

"_If everything is fine then why are you shouting at me?! Also, why are you in such a hurry to get rid of me so easily?"_

"Because I can't really pay attention to my surroundings while I'm on the phone, Einstein!" I snipe at him. "Seriously, I'll be home in like 45 minutes! I promise! Now, bye!"

Without another word, I end the call and jam the phone back into my coat pocket.

"Is…everything all right?" Catherine asks me as I walk back to her.

"Yeah…peachy…" I say. "The roommate has abandonment issues so he's freaking out right now."

"Oh…so that means you have to go now?" she looks disappointed.

"Yeah…unfortunately…." I sigh. "Listen, Catherine, perhaps it's best if you forget everything in the past three hours, yeah? No one can know about this encounter; anyone who knows about me would be in great danger."

"Because of your…anger issues?" she questions me.

"Yes…NO!" I shake my head vigorously. "Catherine," Reluctantly, I place my hands on her shoulders, "Listen to me carefully; those men…the ones who were trying to kill you…they are a part of this highly classified organization…Muirfield…. They're the ones who…created…my angry side…so if they find out I'm still at large so to speak, anyone who is involved with me will be in grave danger."

"What about your roommate? He knows about you." _Shit_. _She's trying to find a loophole. _

"Yeah, well…he was kinda forced into it. I had to mooch off of someone so that's why…but I swear, he's the only OTHER person to know of my whereabouts. Please forget everything; I'm begging you for your sake!"

"I can't do that!" she shakes her head. "I'm sorry; Vincent, but you're the only person who's able to answer my questions—confirm my suspicions about my mom's murder! I can't just forget about our encounter!"

"Catherine—please! You have no idea what Muirfield is capable of!" I grip her shoulders tighter, careful not to squeeze her too hard.

"They're already looking for me, Vincent. How much more danger can I be in?"

_Crap—a woman with a brain…. _

"Please," she places her hands on my forearms and looks at me desperately. "I need to know what happened to my mom."

I breathe in deeply and sigh. "I'm sorry, Catherine. I can't…. As much as I want to tell you everything, it's better if you forget everything."

"Vincent…" she slides her hands from my forearms to my biceps, obviously not taking no for an answer. "I promise I won't say a word to anyone about you, but please…I have to know... After you tell me everything, I'll…I'll stay out of your life forever. I'll forget you ever met me and I swear on my own life I tell a soul about you."

I take her hands into mine and clasp them together in front of me. "Fine…if you give me your solid oath that you'll forget everything about me, I'll consent to your terms. However, we shouldn't stay down here; I'll take you to your place, make sure you're out of harm's way, go back home for a few minutes to check and see if my roommate needs a pacemaker and then I'll return to your apartment and tell you everything, okay?"

She nods. "Okay…Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." I warn her before I start pulling her down the tunnel. "Come on, this way; your apartment is a few blocks away from here."

"How do you know where I live?" she asks me and I smirk.

"I've been looking after you, Catherine. I was sure more Muirfield agents would find you so they can tie off loose ends."

"So you've been…stalking me for four years?" she asks, almost jokingly.

"I wouldn't call it stalking…. I never followed you; I simply checked up on you from time to time to make sure you were okay."

"That explains it then." She whispers to herself but my enhanced hearing easily caught her statement.

"Explains what?" I ask but do not turn around to face her. The sooner we arrive to her apartment, the better.

"Why I've always felt like someone was watching over me."

"How do you figure?" I question her, curious.

"Because, every time I experienced a bad break-up, I would find my ex decorated in with black and blue bruises on top of at least one broken bone. You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with those injuries, would you?" She asks as she circles around me, causing me to stop dead in my tracks.

I look away and try not to smirk as I say, "I may have…had a little something to do with it…" _which isn't totally a lie…. Technically Beast gave each of her exes their injuries; I basically enforced a little mono y mono with each of them. _

"Then thank you…. Those jerks deserved it and since I never 'dealt' with the problem, I'm glad you were able to have my back." Catherine smiles. "You're lucky, Vincent; not a lot of guys are like you."

"I have a pretty good idea that you're probably right." I smirk. "Not many have my…erm…talents either."

"What talents would that be?" she asks as we start walking again. Surprisingly, my hand is still pulling hers along.

"Uhhh…the kind of talents that…guys like me have…. Well, that I have, at least." I say, trying to hint to her what exact talents I'm talking about.

"Oh…right." She replies, getting the subtle hint. "Anyways, how much longer until we arrive to my apartment. I'm famished."

"We're almost there." I reply as I make a right turn. We walk a few more minutes until I say, "Here we are…. This is the ladder to the grate next to your apartment building." She starts to climb up but I place my hand on hers to stop her. "Better let me go up first, yeah?"

"Right." She nods and pulls her hand back gingerly. "Men first, I see how it is."

I take one step up the ladder then look down at her. "In this case, yeah. I wouldn't sleep well tonight if you're killed under my protection."

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" Catherine raises her eyebrow and I smirk.

"Only when you're not being hunted down by blood-thirsty assassins." Before she could say anything else, I climb up the ladder and push up the metal grate. Before exiting the tunnel, I sense for any danger but couldn't feel any. _Maybe they don't know where she lives? No…that can't be it. It's Muirfield after all, isn't it?_

I hop out of the hole and bend back over the opening to help my…erm…Catherine out too. We dust off our pants before I place the lid back over the hole. Catherine starts walking towards the entrance of her apartment when I stop her.

"What is it?" she asks.

"Maybe we should take a different way into your apartment." I state. "Odds are, there's someone waiting up there for you to enter so if there is, we should have the advantage by entering through your fire escape instead."

"Vincent, that's five flights! You can't expect me to run up the metal steps for FIVE FREAKING FLIGHTS!"

"Who said anything about running?" I sneer but she looks at me with confusion. "Erm…remember when I told you I'm different?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, you're just about to get a taste of exactly 'how' different I am." I state before kneeling down. "Get on my back."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," I reply, "Get on my back." She looks at me questionably so I say, "Do you trust me?" Without answering, she hesitantly wraps her legs around my torso and hugs my collarbone. "Hold on tight."

Quickly, I stand up and then squat to my ankles for extra momentum before leaping into the air. Not once does she scream but I think I did hear her gasp when we went airborne. I latch my fingers onto the horizontal bar in front of her fire escape and pull both our weights onto the platform. Without asking, I open her fire escape window and help her inside. "No one is here, Catherine."

"How can you tell?"

"Just another one of my…talents." I reply with a smirk. "You should…um…get something to eat. I need to check in with my nanny, so to speak, before returning here…That is…if it's fine with you."

"Yes…. Please come back as soon as possible. I don't know how much longer I can wait with questions unanswered." Catherine replies jadedly.

As I am about to leave, she tugs on my hand almost desperately. "Wait."

"What?" I ask her while I turn around.

"How can I be so sure you'll return?" she asks. _A fair question, I suppose. _

As I think about how to answer her question, she starts rubbing her arms to try and hide her obvious shivers. "Here…" I say as I tug off my trademark jacket and then wrap it around her shoulders. "This is my favorite coat…and I almost never leave without it. So…please rest assure that I'll be back for it, okay?"

She nods with a small smile.

"So will you take care of it for me?" I ask even though I know what her answer will already be.

"Yes, I will." She replies as she slips her arms into my very long sleeves. "Oh, and you might want this." She digs her hand into my right pocket and pulls out my phone.

"Thanks." I reply. "Anyways, if I'm not back tonight, I swear I'll be back tomorrow, all right?"

Catherine nods. "Okay…until then?"

"Until then." I smile as she finally releases my hand. Without turning back around, I climb onto her fire escape and jump down to the street. I could swear she iss watching me because as I start racing down the streets (in the shadows of course), I hear her mutter, "Don't forget about me, Vincent."

She may not realize it but she's the only reason I haven't killed myself off yet—why I have tried reasoning with Beast rather than fighting with him. Catherine Chandler is the reason I continue hiding in the shadows. JT would never understand; I'm not hiding because I'm 'dead', a hunted man or because I have a raging Beast living inside of me.

No…that's not it at all.

I remain in hiding for one purpose—so I can stay alive for the woman I've secretly fallen for.

One day, though, I hope that'll change so I can actually be able to protect her without having to hide in the shadows.

When I'm far enough into the shadows where she can't see me anymore, I stop and turn around as I whisper, "I'll never forget about you, Catherine Chandler. I can promise you that much."

**Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: **With OLOT having one chapter and an epilogue left, you can tell this will be my next project. I keep gaining ideas for this story so I'd say it's going to have AT LEAST five more chapters! :)

If you like this story, PLEASE send a review! I want your opinions and ideas! Reviews are basically what make me want to add more! =] Well, next chapter may be up sometime this week. I start school tomorrow soooo…I'm going to be one busy lady. :P


	5. Part 5

**Author's Note**: Since we all know what will lie ahead in OLOT, I really want to perfect the next two chapters so you probably won't see another OLOT update until next weekend or so. For now, let's focus on something more…cheery, shall we?

**Now, on with the story! (**ง**'̀-'́)**ง

* * *

**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Five_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

"I'm baaaack!" I holler into the warehouse as I walk into the upper living space.

"Okay, Vincent, seriously…WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?" JT shouts as he counters me in the doorway.

"Glad to see you're ticker still ticks." I reply sarcastically. "And to answer your question, I told you; I was in the tunnels."

"Normal people just don't hang out in the tunnels for nearly 4 hours, V. Unless you're some kind of freakin' vampire!" he taps his foot.

"JT…I'm fine. Okay? Does it really matter where I've been? I'm alive and still here so just chillax all right?" I state.

"Fine…I'll drop it, for now, but don't think you're off the hook, buddy. You were up to something tonight and I'll find out eventually—even if it takes ten years for me to finally figure it out." JT replies. "By the way, the main reason I wanted you to come home so quickly is because I was forced into going to this science convention in San Francisco…So, needless to say, I'll be gone for a week..."

"A week?! What kind of convention lasts an entire week?!"

"Oh, the convention is only three days long; the rest of the time is for me to catch some waves and hopefully return with a tan." JT smirks. "I'm just kidding, I actually want to drive there instead of fly so that's why I'm guessing the trip will be at least a week."

"When do you leave?" I ask, praying he says sometime tonight.

"6 AM tomorrow morning." JT replies. _Shit._ "By the way, I spent half my day today stocking up on food for you since you kinda can't survive without it. There's enough to last a week and a few days in case you want to overeat a few times."

"Thanks…"

"No problem. Anyways, since we're sort of on the subject, I'm guessing you're planning on 'taking walks' while I'm gone?"

"Yeah….a few…. Why?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Because, if you're going to be Batman for the night, save me the heart attack and DON'T TELL ME! I have to be on my best behavior at this convention and I can't very well do that if I'm worried about you every second of the time. If I call you, just say, "I'm alive" and then end the call. The less I know, the better my ticker will be."

"If you say so…" I shrug before opening the fridge and grabbing a water bottle. I twist off the cap and pour a small amount of liquid down my throat. "So…did you happen to buy some dinner while you were out?"

"I bought McDonalds…Figured I should eat my favorite meal before I leave for Cali in case I die before I arrive." JT states sarcastically as I roll my eyes.

"The rate you worry yourself to death, you'll have no problem killing yourself off before the year is out." I say before he tosses me a _Double Quarter Pounder_. "Thanks."

"No problem. I'd toss the fries and your large soda but I'm not in the mood to clean up any possible messes tonight." JT states as he carries his food to the table.

"Don't worry about it." I smirk before I disappear for a split second and reappear in my chair with my burger, large fries and large Diet Coke sitting in front of me.

"Show off." JT rolls his eyes before he stuffs his _Angus Deluxe_ into his mouth. I take a large bite out of my own burger and literally lift my eyes to the heavens.

"You've outdone yourself, JT. Truly." I say after a few more bites. "Best Mickey-D's I've had in a LONG time."

"Glad you're enjoying it, V." JT smirks before slurping his Sprite.

"All right, once we're done with dinner, do you want to hit up some _**Super Smash Bros: Brawl**_?"

"Sure…. Just don't cry your eyes out when you finally realize you're no match for the Smashing King."

"Oh? Don't be too sure about that, JT." I laugh. "For someone who's been in hiding for four years, I've been practicing quite a bit. I guess we'll put my nerdy skills to the test. Just a little warning," I smirk as I say this, "If you piss me off because you win a game, I can't promise what Beast will do if my adrenaline wakes him up from his nap…. As we both know, he gets a little cranky after waking up."

JT laughs nervously as he throws away our dinner trash and I smirk. I may not be able to beat JT fair and square at _**Super Smash Bros: Brawl**_but I can certainly outwit him anytime. Sometimes having this beasty blood inside of me is useful—in times like this, I can use my darker side to get under JT's skin.

Before we start playing, I look at the clock and pray for JT's bedtime to come soon. I desperately want to see Catherine again.

**Beauty and the Beast**

Finally, JT falls asleep around 11:15 PM so I leave a note on my bed to tell him I needed to take a breather. He can always call me if he thinks he's having a heart attack so I'm not too worried about his response—that is, if I get back before he has to wake up in the morning.

I sneak out of the warehouse and jump into the tunnels, anxious to see Catherine again. I've decided I should wait to tell her the truth when she's had a decent night's sleep so my visit, tonight, will be relatively short—_should_ be relatively short. She's probably not going to like my decision but without me, she's in the dark so she'll just have to accept my terms. I want her senses to be fully aware of her surroundings before I drop a huge bombshell on her. I owe her that much.

About fifteen minutes after I started running below the city of New York, I finally reach the grate next to her apartment building. Effortlessly, I jump up to the last ladder step and push my way out of the sewers. I run to the east side of her building and, after looking AND sensing my surroundings, I take a huge leap into the air and land on her fire escape platform.

So I wouldn't scare the living daylights (or nightlights in this case) out of her, I gracefully knock on her little window, letting her know I've returned. I peek into the room to find her fast asleep on her bed and wrapped within my jacket. I couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful scene in front of me.

_Who would have thought __**Catherine Chandler**__ would be sleeping in __**my**__ jacket?! _

_Wow…I think I just sounded like a high school girl a few seconds ago…._

By the fourth or so round of soft tapping, she finally wakes up and turns her head towards the window. She smiles when she sees me and I give her an awkward wave. "Hey." I say as she opens up the window.

"You came." She grins. "I was afraid you forgot about me…"

_I could never forget about you…_ "Uh…no…. Just got a little busy at home…. I was waiting for my roommate to fall asleep so I could sneak off."

"Oh…. That's why it seemed forever." Her voice fades.

"Yeah but don't sweat it, Catherine. I'm here now, aren't I?" She nods with a small smile before gesturing me to enter her bedroom. "Uhhh…Listen, Catherine, I know I said I would tell you everything tonight but I don't think it's such a good idea."

"But you promised!" she suddenly flares up. "I want to know about my mom!"

"I know you do but I don't th—"

"What?! You don't think I can handle the truth? You think you can trust me?!" She tries to guess at my thoughts but neither assumption is accurate. As she continues guessing, I keep shaking my head.

Finally, I grab her arms (gently), and cut her off of her ranting. "IF…If you would have let me finish, Catherine, I would have said: _I don't think now is such a great time_."

"When is it EVER a good time?!" she asks me as she throws up her hainds.

"Good point but still, I think the truth should wait until the morning. Look, you and I both are exhausted and if I open a can of worms tonight, we both won't be able to sleep well. That being said, I think it's better…no…SAFER…if I tell you the truth tomorrow—that way, you'll be more awake and most likely, more open minded than you are right now. You understand?"

She nods her head. "But…when tomorrow morning?"

"Well, my roommate leaves for a work convention tomorrow at 6 AM so, if I want to make sure he's booted off the island so to speak, then I'd say I probably won't arrive until 7:30 AM or 8 AM. I can wait until the afternoon or evening if you have work." I say as I tighten my hold on her hands.

"I won't have work tomorrow—I'll call in sick or something." She states plainly, so sure of herself. "Vincent, knowing about my mother's death is more important to me than anything else. If you don't tell me any later than tomorrow, I will go crazy; I _need_ to know what happened to her; you do realize that right?"

"Yes, Catherine. I do." I reply as I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "As much as I would like to stay for a little while longer, I need to get back—my roommate will have a fit if he finds I'm missing from my bed." She nods slightly but I can tell I've upset her. "Hey," I cup her face and tilt her chin upwards so she can look into my eyes, "I promise…no…SWEAR…I'll be here by 8 AM. If I'm not, assume I'm dead because NOTHING except the afterlife can stop me from returning to you, Catherine."

"Forgive me for being skeptical, Vincent…I haven't exactly have the best track record when it comes to guys in my life." Catherine apologizes. "Those are sweet words, truly, but I've heard it all before. I just…I don't know who to trust in my life anymore…So…don't take this the wrong way but how am I to know you're not some guy trying to get into my pants by your sexy chivalry?"

_Damn—she's one hell of a blunt woman. Super sexy…._ I shake the dirty thoughts away before my imagination wanders off too far before I answer to her direct response. "I assure you, Catherine, that's the last thing I want."

_Wait…. That sounds a little mean, doesn't it? _I can tell Beast is heavily disagreeing with me. If Beast is the part of me that wants to rip her clothes off this instant, what's that to say about me? I never thought about this but is Beast some sort of darker side to my mind—a split personality per se? What if Beast's consciousness is actually a part of my subconscious?

"What I mean to say is…" I can feel heat rising up my neck and I swear my ears are beat red right now, "I have no desire to hurt you, Catherine. I know my words may seem empty to you because of personal experiences but please do not label all guys like those jerks…." I start rubbing the back of my neck, trying to find the right words to say, "Look, I'm not…trying to sell myself here…. I'm just trying to convince you…no…to PROVE to you that I'm a decent guy—despite my…not-so-decent side."

To my surprise, Catherine's cute dimples appear on her cheeks as she places her hands on top of mine. "You better go."

"Are you sure? I mean, I can stay for a little while longer if you want me to…" I say, hoping she would take up my offer.

"No…" her voice fades, "You go home…. I don't want to cause tension between you and your roommate so I'll just take your word and see you in the morning—8 AM sharp."

"Okay…" I nod, understandably. "I'll go." Without another word, I slip my palms away from her face and head towards the fire escape.

"Wait…" she whispers almost inaudibly but I hear it anyways.

"Yes?"

"Ummm…" she starts to say but I think the events of the day have made her weary—she can barely keep her eyes open as is. I take a step towards her, hoping she would say something but she doesn't.

"Catherine?" I look at her intently but she looks worried or…rather, deep in thought. I'm not too sure.

"N-nevermind." She finally says.

I watch as she turns to walk away when BEAST, of all 'people', reaches out and pulls her back towards me…erm us…erm him…. She gives me a strange look and I immediately draw back my hand. "Sorry…sudden impulse…."

'_STOP THAT!' _I mentally shout at Beast. _'Do you want her to hate you for the rest of your life?!' _

"Oh…okay." She silently mutters. _Talk about awkward…._

"Yeah…." I clap my hands together. "So…see you tomorrow?"

She takes a step towards me and bites her bottom lip as she stares into my eyes.

"What?" I sort of smirk as we find our fingers lacing together as if we're two magnets who can't stay away from each other.

"It…It _is_ tomorrow." She whispers, motioning towards her clock but I don't look away from her. How can one person seem 300% more stunning only after I've officially met her?

"So it is…" I whisper back, just as softly if not more.

I can feel our distances closing in; her arms encircling my back and mine encircling hers—a perfect fit. "You…should…go…" she mutters but her heart screams "STAY!" instead.

I know I shouldn't get romantically involved with ANYONE, least of all; Catherine Chandler, but I can't help myself. "I…know…" I reply before I feel her warm breath tickling my chin's stubble.

The instant I feel her lips slightly grazing against mine (and I mean SLIGHTLY), her cell phone rings, sending both of us back to reality. We immediately jump away from each other and I turn around, awkwardly, as she answers her phone.

"Chandler…. Oh…sorry, Heath; work habit. –Yes, I remember that Dad's birthday is this Friday. –No, you don't need to do that, I'll…I'll lend you some money and you can pay me back once you graduate and have a stable job. –Not a problem; just call closer to daylight hours next time please. –Love you, bye." She ends her call, tosses her phone onto her bed but doesn't dare turn around. "Ummm…sorry about…**that**."

"Yeah…me too…" I reply candidly. "See you later then?"

"Yeah, I'll be here." Catherine replies but still won't turn around.

"All right…well, later." I state as I hop out the window.

To my surprise, she hollers "WAIT!" again. I turn around and she climbs out of her apartment with my jacket in her hands. "Here…you held up your end of the bargain—I don't need this anymore."

"Don't worry about it, Catherine," I say to her, "Keep it for the time being…Keep it every moment until I've finished explaining everything to you. That way, if I need another day to continue, you'll know I'm going to need to come back anyways for my jacket."

"Okay." Catherine smiles as she slips her arms back into the coat. "I'll keep it safe for you."

"Thanks." I grin softly. She looks like she's about to say something else but doesn't. She just stands there, awkwardly, as wait for her to complete her unspoken thought.

"No…thank you, Vincent." Catherine corrects me.

"How so?"

"You saved my life today and…also four years ago. I owe you my life." She replies and for some reason, she develops a spark of confidence as she literally jumps into my arms for an intimate embrace. I hold her firmly within my arms as she buries her head into the crook of my neck.

"Thank you." She whispers once more before I place her back down to her feet.

I give her a small kiss on the forehead and as I walk to the edge of the fire escape, I caress her cheek and mutter, "Until later."

With that, I jump off of her fire escape and run in the tunnels as a very happy young man. I look forward to tomorrow…erm…today's conversation with her….

If only she knew just how perfectly wonderful she is to me. I have certainly fallen for her—and no Beast can take away those feelings from me.

Know why?

-It's because all of my feelings for Catherine Elizabeth Chandler are forever etched into my heart.

**Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: **PLEASE let me know what you think; I get this feeling people aren't liking this story because I am not seeing many reviews…so if you want to see this story continued, you know what to do! **NOTE:** I wrote this late night so if something sounded off or wasn't understandable, please let me know! :)


	6. Part 6

**Author's Note**: So a few readers told me the story seems kind of slow? I don't see how it does; if someone could give me an example—that would be great! I thought the story is paced well but maybe I'm wrong. Please tell me what you think is wrong with my story!

**Just a little extra note: **Because Vincent is younger; he still hasn't full mastered Beast yet. So, my theory: practically _anything_ could cause his adrenaline to boost; even a simple angry shout. Also, I forgot to mention, this plot takes place BEFORE Catherine starts building her walls up so she's going to be more emotionally hands-on than seen on TV.

**Now, on with the story! (**ง**'̀-'́)**ง

* * *

**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Six_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

* * *

**Beauty and the Beast**

"You think you have everything?" I ask my best friend as he places the last bag into his Hatchback.

"Well, I'll find out, won't I?" JT replies, "You take care, okay?"

"Got it." I say as I give him a thumbs up. "Enjoy your trip!"

"I'll try... By the way, while I'm gone, PLEASE don't do anything RECKLESS; my nerves won't be able to handle it."

"Reckless? Me?" I pretend to look innocent, "You must be thinking of some other bimbo. I'm a perfect angel."

In the back of my mind, Beast scoffs at my little statement as JT rolls his eyes and mutters, "Hardly."

I lightly smack him in the shoulder and he laughs. "All right, I'm gone. I'll see you in a week!" JT opens hops into his car, shuts his door and waves as he pulls out of the rocky parking lot. When he's out of sight, I walk back into the warehouse and find my way back to the bed. Before I go to Catherine's today, I need to try conversing with Beast again. Who knows, maybe he'll actually respond to me this time.

As I sit on my bed and fold my arms across my chest, I close my eyes and summon Beast to the 'control center' of my brain. _"BEAST! WAKE UP!" _

As if heeding my command, Beast awakens and his consciousness appears in front of my own. He growls at me and bares his teeth.

"_Oh get over it." _My consciousness says. _"You better get used to me summoning you out of the blue like this; because, if we're going to have to work together—which we will—we're going to need to compromise. So, sorry if I've ruined your ugly sleep but this 'meeting' is highly important."_

Beast's consciousness sits down and he folds his arms across his chest; I think that means he's ready to listen. It's strange really, no matter how 'beast-like' he seems, Beast still has human characteristics—it's like he's been studying human behavior as if he's some kind of underworld anthropologist. The more we're together (not like we have a choice anyways), the more he becomes 'more' human.

I stay silent for a moment until Beast starts tapping his claws against his arm impatiently.

"_Fine, I'll go ahead and start…." _My consciousness takes a seat as well and continues, _"As you are aware, we are seeing Catherine today. I'm going to help her connect the missing dots concerning her mother's death. While I am speaking with her, I need YOU to put a lid on our 'urges' so to speak. I can handle mine but YOU need to work on handling yours. It isn't easy sharing a mind with another consciousness and when I can see your dirty thoughts ticker-taping through my mind; it's hard to control my…desires. What's even worse? YOUR desires are like mine, tenfold! So, PLEASE, try to behave your thoughts and I'll try to behave mine. Got that?" _

Once again, he grunts; if there's one thing I've learned about Beast, it's about his ego. He doesn't like to be told what to do but, when push comes to shove, he usually obeys my command.

Usually.

"_I'm going to take that as a yes. Now, go back to bed or wherever you go when you're suppressed; I'm starting the engine back up, so to speak." _My mind tells Beast. He grunts once more and falls back asleep so he can recharge his mentality before taking over the reins again.

When I bring myself to my senses, I have to take a moment to adjust the morning light. Having two consciousnesses existing in one mind is super exhausting and could mentally take a toll on my brain if I'm not careful. It's one thing for Beast to be suppressed when I'm pressing all the buttons but it's another deal when BOTH consciousnesss are present in the HQ. The mind can only handle that sort of pressure for so long. My theories? If I'm 'down there' for too long, either Beast will take permanent control over my body and mind or we BOTH will be stuck inside our shared brain like a lobotomy experiment.

Once my mind readjusts, I slowly rise to my feet and grab my baseball cap before heading out the door to Catherine's.

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Catherine's POV**

I impatiently look at my clock for the fiftieth time since waking up this morning. I'm tired of waiting for him! I know I still have about 15 minutes left until 8 AM but still, after last night's…moment…I need to see him again! I have to!

Not wanting to wait inside anymore, I open up my fire escape window and step onto the platform so I can look for him instead of pacing a hole into my floor. I shiver a little as a slight breeze brushes past me and pull Vincent's jacket more around me. It's almost like he's right here with me—I don't think I'll ever forget our intimate embrace last night. I know I was a little too forward with him but as of right now, he's the first thing that has made sense in my life. I'm glad he's been watching after me for the past several years; in a weird way, I knew someone was always there—and I felt safe.

I don't know what it is but, with Vincent, my world simply turns upside down yet it all still makes sense. I may have just met him but I feel there's an intimate connection between us and I hope…if we continue seeing each other like later this morning, there will be something more. I can't help but like him—he's so sweet and gentle. He claims he has this dark side—the beast but, I don't care. Beast or no beast, he saved my life and I owe him everything.

As I start to sit down on the metal steps behind me, Vincent appears out of nowhere like he's falling from the sky! The instant he lands, he literally causes the entire fire escape to reverberate back and forth and I nearly lose my balance until he reaches out and stops me from falling backwards.

"Thanks." I mutter nervously.

"If I knew you were waiting up here, I would have tried for a gentler landing. Sorry about that…" he says in his very sexy voice.

"No. It's okay; I should have trusted you to come here instead of doubting you. I wanted to make sure you came here so that's why I climbed out the window. I'm sorry for having any doubt in you at all." I apologize with a shaky voice. Why am I so nervous? What am I expecting to happen now that we've almost kissed on our first day of knowing each other?

"Don't worry about it, Catherine. I don't blame you for having your doubts." Vincent states gingerly. _He sure is damn sexy…._

I smile towards him and almost forgot the main reason he's here. "Right! Ummmm…I was thinking….I don't know exactly _what_ you have planned to tell me but is it all right if we wait a while? I don't think I want to start the morning out with a sob story…."

"Whatever you want to do, Catherine." he replies softly. "So I'll see you later then?"

"What?" I give him a confused look. "Oh! No! Stay! Please stay! I didn't mean to…make you think I wanted you to leave, Vincent." _Well, that sounded a bit desperate…._

"Catherine, as much as I want to stay here, I'm a walking target; any chance I risk being out in the open, Muirfield could find me and they could hurt you in the process. I don't want to put you in any danger." He says as he places his palm on my cheek. "I couldn't…I couldn't live with myself if Muirfield ever tries to hurt you."

"Vincent," I remove his palm from my cheek and caress it with my fingers, "They've already tried to kill me—twice, even. Look, I know this sounds crazy and probably seems selfish of me, but please, will you stay?"

It seems like forever before he opens his mouth to answer, but I don't blame him, really; I'm asking him to step out of his comfort zone for me. "Catherine…, you'd be in more danger if I'm here…. Do you want to risk that?"

"You would have stayed here anyways to tell me about my mom; how is now any different?"

"It…it just is." He replies, so insecure.

"That's not a good answer, Vincent; there has to be a reason why you're pulling away from me. If I went ahead and told you that I want to hear about my mom right now, you'd stay and tell me! Why don't you want to stay to just…stay?!"

Unbelievable! You think you know a guy but they're all weasels in the end! One moment he's literally about to kiss me and the next he acts like I'm diseased or something!

"Catherine…it's not as easy as you think; I can't just…stay because I want to!" he replies and then takes a seat on the steps.

"Why not?!" I snap. I'm tired of guys thinking they have control over each and every situation! Don't I have a say in the matter anymore?!

"Because!" he yells and grips the metal rail tightly, trying to calm his nerves down. Suddenly, I realize why he's hurting; why he's trying to keep himself as distant as he can.

"Vincent," I reach for him but he pulls back.

"Don't! I could hurt you!" he warns me as his veins start to blacken. I can tell he's starting to change—just as he did in the park. Despite what he fears, I have a feeling he won't hurt me; he didn't when he saved my life four years ago so why would he hurt me now. Disregarding his warning, I approach him and try to place my hands on his face. However, he immediately looks away from me; ashamed of himself. "I told you to keep your distance!"

"No." I mutter softly. "I won't." With solid conviction, I manage to cup his face in my palms. He is still trying to keep his inner demon under lock and key but I can tell he's having a difficult time. "Vincent, just because you're different—however that came to be—I'm not going to treat you any less than a human. You're not some kind of animal to me; not even your inner beast."

As his veins start to return to normal and his breathing begins to calm down, he looks up at me and for the first time, I can see the pain in his eyes—the fear too. "Vincent," I trace my left pointer finger along his scar, "You don't have to be afraid of me running from you; I've seen you as the Beast, remember? Even then, I wasn't afraid."

"But back then," he finally replies, "You were confused; your mother had just been killed and you were vulnerable. Even if…even if I was a serial killer, you would have praised me."

"But you aren't, Vincent." I say softly. "Sure, you've killed those men, but…."

"No, you don't understand; I've killed others too. Whether or not their deaths were intentional, I still took away their lives—there's no justice for that." He states truthfully.

I shake my head. "I won't believe it. Yes, okay, you may have had to kill but, were these victims innocents?"

"No…. They were either criminals or a part of Muirfield. I don't mean to kill anyone but…Beast likes to have his way with them. Even now, I still have a hard time controlling him."

"Yet, you were able to control yourself when you scared my exes away." I point out to him. "I don't believe you're a killer, Vincent. If you were, I wouldn't be standing here, right now."

"You can't be so sure about that." he looks away from me, still feeling ashamed of himself.

How can I make him understand that I don't care who or what he is? He saved me four years ago and he saved me yesterday. How can he think he's a killer?! "Vincent, I know I just met you but…to be honest…I feel drawn to you. Never, in my life, have I ever felt so drawn to someone before. I want you to know that…that I don't want you to stay here because I think it's the right thing to do—since I'm being 'hunted' so to speak and you literally have superpowers; I wouldn't use you like that."

"Catherine, I would always protect you…but—"

"Shush…" I place my finger on his lips, "I wasn't finished." Without thinking, I sit on his lap and keep my palms on his face. To my surprise, he automatically slides his arms around my back and pulls me towards him. _What's with all of these mixed signals? His mind is saying one thing but his body is screaming something entirely different. Which does he want?!_

"The reason I asked you to stay, Vincent, is not because I want you to protect me or because I want you to tell me about my mom; I asked you to stay because…because I _want_ you to stay." I confess to him. And you know what? We don't…we don't have to talk about my mom if the story discomforts you; I'm okay to wait." He looks at me with confusion.

"I thought…" I continue, "I thought I wasn't because everything that happened yesterday was so…strange…and I wanted answers…. However, as I was trying to wrap my head around everything last night—your slight transformation yesterday, the manhunt, the conversation in the tunnels, our almost-kiss and the very intimate embrace—I realized I was selfish to try to force you to tell me something you were clearly uncomfortable about. And…yes, there were people trying to kill me because I survived the attack from four years ago, but…for now, I think that's all I need to know. I don't…I'm not sure I'm ready to hear the truth—I want to hold onto the memory of my mother a little while longer."

He brushes his fingers through my hair and mutters, "Catherine, it's not that I'm…dwelling on terrible memories whenever I think about the past…I just…I don't want to hurt you. I feel like the truth will make you see the world differently and I'm not so sure that would be a good thing right now. You shouldn't have to look over your shoulder every single second of the day; it's not fair to you."

"And I understand that….That's why I'm willing to wait until you're comfortable in telling me the truth….. Even if it takes years, I'll wait. For you, Vincent, I'll wait."

"Thank you, Catherine…." he whispers to me. "Thanks for understanding." I know what he meant by 'see the world differently.' I can tell, deep down, he's afraid I'll learn the truth and will see HIM differently—not so much the world. That's the real reason I think it's best to wait—I'm not sure what or how I will feel when I learn the truth. That's why…I want to hold off the confession session so I can be with him for a while. I don't think that's too much to ask of him, is it?

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Vincent's POV**

I know what I said to her isn't _exactly_ the truth but she doesn't need to know what I _really_ fear. It's a cowardly fear and it's the main reason I never involved myself in her life aside from saving her and teaching her dumbass exes certain lessons. However, no matter how I feel, I wouldn't change this intimate moment for the world.

She presses her forehead against mine and acts as if she's about to say something else but instant I hear footsteps heading towards her apartment, I snap back to reality and turn my head towards her window.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"Someone…someone's here." I reply, on edge. "And I don't think it's someone visiting with chicken noodle soup."

**Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: **Well I hope this chapter didn't seem so slow for you guys. The next update may be sometime next week. I have just started school last week and already have a lot of homework. I'm surprised I managed to squeeze this update in. Anyways, before I update this story, I'd like to finish OLOT first. So, expect the last two chapters of OLOT in the next two weeks. I'm an English major with a creative writing minor so I have a lot of extra writing on the side. I'll try to post often but I can't make any promises! If you don't hear from me in the next few weeks, I am so sorry for keeping you waiting but life must continue even if my virtual one must be put on pause. :/

Anyways, please REVIEW! :)


	7. Part 7

**Author's Note**: I've been struggling with how to start this chapter so after the 100th re-write (no joke), I hope it's satisfactory. (PS: This may be one of those blah chapters…We all have them ^_^)

CAN IT BE OCTOBER 7TH YET?!

**Now, on with the story! (**ง**'̀-'́)**ง

* * *

**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Seven_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Last time….**

_I know what I said to her isn't exactly the truth but she doesn't need to know what I really fear. It's a cowardly fear and it's the main reason I never involved myself in her life aside from saving her and teaching her dumbass exes certain lessons. However, no matter how I feel, I wouldn't change this intimate moment for the world. _

_She presses her forehead against mine and acts as if she's about to say something else but instant I hear footsteps heading towards her apartment, I snap back to reality and turn my head towards her window._

"_What's wrong?" she asks. _

"_Someone…someone's here." I reply, on edge. "And I don't think it's someone visiting with chicken noodle soup."_

**Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

**Vincent's POV**

"Are you sure?" Catherine asks as we both look into her apartment window.

"Just hang on…" I mutter and hold my breath for a few seconds, waiting to see if this _visitor_ is actually coming to Catherine's apartment but when I sense he or she turned the corner, I assumed he or she was heading for another apartment on the fifth floor. Okay, now I'm paranoid. "Sorry, I…false alarm. I heard someone walking up the apartment stairs and could sense he or she wasn't happy. I guess I was so paranoid that I kept thinking your apartment was the only apartment on the fifth floor. It didn't even occur to me that he or she would be heading for a different apartment."

"That's okay," Catherine smiles. "I think…after everything that's happened in the last two days, I would be paranoid too." She places her hand on my knee and gently squeezes it. "However, I don't think we should be hiding around the bushes when we could be taking them down, Vincent."

I can understand her reasons for wanting to strike back but I still don't think it's a good idea. I place my hand on top of hers, saying, "Catherine, I know you want to take them down but at what cost? Muirfield isn't like anything you've been up against. The second they find out you know something about them, they will find you and they will kill you."

"Vincent," she chuckles, "They've already tried. So it's obvious they won't plan on scratching me off of their most wanted list anytime soon. I know I don't know your whole story…of how they changed you or why they killed my mom but no one should be able to get away with it. Not even Muirfield." She stands to her feet and stretches her back before turning to me. "Don't you want justice?"

"I think things are better as they are now. If Muirfield continues to believe I'm dead, they won't go after me."

"But at what cost?" she asks. A fair question, I guess. "You're willing to continue hiding and making yourself miserable just so Muirfield won't find you?"

"I've made peace with it." I tell her with honesty. "My place might not be a mansion or a nice little cottage but it's home. It has been for the past five years and I've grown to like it. Sure, it may be dark and dusty but it's comfortable. If I keep living under the radar, Muirfield will never know I'm still alive." Okay, so that might be a little lie. I do like my place and it is comfortable, but I wouldn't exactly say I'm living a luxurious life. Despite what JT thinks, I actually _do_ want to live somewhere homier and less moldy but he doesn't need to know that. And neither does Catherine.

"But if we take down Muirfield, you'll be able to clear your death certificate and live a normal life!" Catherine exclaims but I shake my head.

"Catherine, you don't understand. _Nothing_ about my life is normal and for all I know, it never will be. Even if I _could _live out in the open and do things I really want to do, I'm a monster and that's not going to fly with any official. If Muirfield goes down, another organization will want to carve me open and see how I tick. It will _never_ end with Muirfield. Someone will always want to hunt me down and use my skills to their liking: whether it means being dissected on a lab table or if it means working for them. Catherine, I will always be a hunted man so…so the life I live is the life I can only live." I push my hair away from my forehead and sigh. "Understand?"

She nods silently and sits back down beside me. "I'm sorry…. I don't know what I was thinking…. It was selfish of me to even consider taking Muirfield down without thinking of how it would affect you."

"No; you weren't selfish, Catherine." I lean forward a little more so I can look at her. "If I were in your position, I would definitely want to take down Muirfield too. Hell, I can't lie and say I don't _want_ them to be punished for what they've done but the end of Muirfield won't fix anything; I feel like it'll make my situation worse. So what's the point? Who knows…maybe in 5 or 6 years I might change my mind but for now? I think it's best to stay under the radar for as long as possible." I clasp my hands together and take a deep breath.

"Listen, Catherine; until you want to learn about your mother's death, I think we should keep our distance. You'll be safer without my involvement in your l—" Before I could finish, she cuts me off by placing her finger on my lips.

"No," she states plainly, "Vincent…, as far as I can tell, you're already involved in my life…. Look, I…I'm going to be honest…I…I don't have that many close relationships in my life…. I know you and I barely know each other but…I feel like I've known you for an entire lifetime. What I mean to say is…aside from my sister, my new work partner and my father, you are the first person to ever make sense in my life." I look at her, bewildered as she laughs a little. "In truth? I don't even know when the last time my life _did_ make any sense."

She removes her finger from my lips and, to my surprise; she combs her fingers through my hair. "Vincent," she breathes, "I…I know I promised you I would forget all about you once you tell me everything you know about my mother's death but…I don't know if I can." She slowly removes her fingers from my hair and she starts caressing my scar.

Even though I want to lean into her touch, I don't. "Catherine," I back my face away from her palm, "I don't think _us_ is a wise idea."

"Do you really think that?" she asks me as she brushes my bangs away from my face. "Vincent, can you honestly tell me you can't feel something between us?"

Just as I'm about to answer her, I hear a small click coming from one of the buildings across from us. I whip my head around and see something small whizzing its way towards us. Seeing that our life is in danger, Beast yanks ropes and quickly surfaces.

"Vincent! What's going on?!" I can hear Catherine say as Beast looks at her and picks her up into our arms. Not taking any chances, he jumps off of the fire escape and both of us (technically the three of us) hear the glass of Catherine's window shatter into a million pieces much like the *Jewel of Four Souls. "Vincent! Answer me!"

Beast growls at her as he literally tosses her onto the ground once we land and pulls up the sewer grate. '_You could be gentler, you know!' _As he picks Catherine up, his consciousness grunts at me as if he were saying: _'F*** off! I do what I want!'_ Just like yesterday, I…erm…Beast…erm us…erm we…carry Catherine through the tunnels.

Suddenly, Beast and I hear gunshots ricocheting off of the wall to our right so we pick up our speed and turn a random corner. _'TURN LEFT!' _I shout at Beast as I try to direct him to the warehouse. _'TURN LEFT YOU BRAINLESS ASSHOLE!' _

But, instead of turning left, he turns right and _gently_ places Catherine onto the ground. "Vincent, what're you doing?!" she asks and I wish I could answer because, if I have the slightest idea what might be going through Beast's mind, it would be a suicide mission. She reaches for my hand, and the instant her fingers touch mine, I somehow managed to gain some control of the Headquarters once more.

"St…St…Stay…h-here…." I force myself to say. Despite his rude temper and his tactics, I have learned that Beast is a genius strategist and an excellent fighter. So…if he has a plan…I have no choice but to go for the ride. Catherine stands to her feet and as Beast starts to walk off, she grips our hand tighter.

"You're scaring me, Vincent. What are you planning?"

I force us to turn around and to my surprise, Beast wraps our arm around Catherine's waist and leaps upward, grabbing onto a ladder. After climbing several feet, he jumps from the ladder to a ledge nearly fifteen feet above the ground level. Carefully, he releases Catherine and at that second, I know exactly what he's doing. _'Let me talk to her!' _I mentally state, hoping he would let me have some reign in the control center.

Heeding my request, Beast lets my consciousness surface. "C-Cath…ther…ine…" I say huskily.

She cups my face, despite my appearance, and instantly understands what Beast and I are about to do. "Shhh…" she whispers, "Promise you'll come back for me?" I force myself to nod and for the first time, as the Beast, I manage to caress her soft skin. She leans her cheek into my hand before kissing my palm. "Go…"

Before _we _leave, I force my humanity to overpower the beast for a brief moment and swallow my fear as I press my lips against her cheek. "I'll return…I promise…." With everything said, I allow Beast to consume my humanity once more as we jump to the ground level and race towards the hit-men. Beast is right, no matter how much I disagree with his methods: the only way to stop this sect from trying to kill Catherine off is to rid them once and for all.

**Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: **Sooooooo how was that? I struggled with this chapter but I think I like the turn out! Anyway, review pleeeeeaaaase! :)


	8. Part 8

**Author's Note**: Thank you for all of the reviews so far! It's so exciting to see people liking my story! As for longer chapters: I know I've written a lot longer chapters for other fics in the past but for this one, I think I might stick with shorter chapters mainly because I have carpal tunnel and tendonitis and need to give my hands a break from typing too much.

So please respect my decision to type shorter chapters.

Thanks! :)

**Now, on with the story! (**ง**'̀-'́)**ง

* * *

**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Eight_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Last time….**

_She cups my face, despite my appearance, and instantly understands what Beast and I are about to do. "Shhh…" she whispers, "Promise you'll come back for me?" I force myself to nod and for the first time, as the Beast, I manage to caress her soft skin. She leans her cheek into my hand before kissing my palm. "Go…" _

_Before we leave, I force my humanity to overpower the beast for a brief moment and swallow my fear as I press my lips against her cheek. "I'll return…I promise…." With everything said, I allow Beast to consume my humanity once more as we jump to the ground level and race towards the hit-men. Beast is right, no matter how much I disagree with his methods: the only way to stop this sect from trying to kill Catherine off is to rid them once and for all._

* * *

**Vincent's POV**

'_LET ME TAKE CONTROL!' _I shout at Beast as we run away from Catherine. _'I have an idea!_ However Beast grunts at me in annoyance but, to my surprise, lets me surface again. Instead of running as if I am being chased by bad guys (which I am but that's beside the point), I slow down to a casual walk to look less suspicious. When I see the Muirfield sect piling into the tunnels one by one, I take a leap of faith and say, "Excuse me!"

They all turn around to me so I continue, "Uhhhh could you tell me the way out of here. I'm kinda lost."

"Stop playing dumb, kid," one of them spits, "We know you're with the girl; now, where is she?"

"What girl?" I raise my eyebrows. "Seriously, man; I came here alone to do some research on the natural pathogens of the Rattus norvegicus and unfortunately got lost in the process. Please do me a favor and point the way out." There. That sounds like I know what I'm talking about. Who knew JT's recent study of the brown rat would actually come in handy.

"Shut your trap, twerp. You tell us where you hid her and we _might _spare your life in the process." Another says through yellow teeth. "I'll give you ten seconds until I start shooting."

"You guys have certainly lost it! I'll find my _own_ way out." I back away and pull a JT Forbes as I pretend to freak out. "I suggest you get in touch with a few shrinks, and _fast_."

"Uh, maybe he _is _just a passerby." One agent says as he puts down his gun. "The boss said to leave civilians out of this."

As I start walking away from them (as a ploy, of course), I hear one of the older agents say, "Wait! That boy looks a lot like Vincent Keller! You know, one of them monsters from the failed platoon experiment!"

Instantly, I slowly grin even though they cannot see my face. Whoops, guess I should have covered up my scar. As Beast's claws start to surface, I spin around and say, "Keen memory." Immediately, all of the agents cock their guns before they start pointing them at me. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Beast pushes my consciousness aside and starts controlling our body. "It's too bad you're going to die anyways." I hear myself say in a deep, dark voice as Beast and I take a step towards the men. _'Since when can you talk!?' _ I ask Beast's consciousness in shock. He just looks at me and shrugs before returning his attention to the bad guys.

As the men start shooting at us, Beast jumps us upward and lands within the center of the group before he starts slashing his claws sporadically, not caring where he sliced, only that he _did make _contact. Some men managed to graze us with bullets but they weren't fast enough to make a direct blow. As Beast swipes his claws across the last agent's neck, the agent somehow was able to drive a dagger into our side before falling to his death. Beast rips the knife out of the side of our stomach and flings it carelessly before clasping our hand over the bleeding wound. Slowly, Beast sinks into his slumber and I emerge to take control.

While I drag my feet down the long, dark tunnels, I can't help but wonder why my knife-wound isn't healing. Normally, by now, I would have recovered from a wound so trivial but, for some reason, I feel like the wound is getting worse. I have to find that knife but knowing that would be an impossible mission right now, I decide against it. I would have to find another way to obtain that dagger later.

As I try to make it back to Catherine, I feel more and more of my energy being drained out of me. Even Beast is too exhausted to surface and help his host out. I lean against the wall, gasping for breath but continue moving because I have a promise to keep.

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Catherine's POV**

Thirty minutes have gone by and still no sign of Vincent. What could be taking him so long? I mean, I know I barely know him and I'm not 100% sure of what sorts of abilities he has but…it shouldn't take a beast with super strength too long to kill off those agents, should it? I can't explain it but somehow I can feel that he needs me—I just have this feeling that he's injured.

As I scan the tunnel to see if I can find some way to get back onto the ground, I spot a large metal pipe running from this ledge all the way to a ladder about thirty feet from my location. I stand up and rub my hands together. _All right, Chandler. You didn't take eleven years of gymnastics for nothing. Now's the time to prove what you're worth._ I grab the pipe above me but look down before lifting my feet off of the ledge. _It's just like the monkey bars, right? Just…a little bit longer and with a little more at stake. No big deal…._

Because I can feel that Vincent needs me, I take a leap of faith and hold my breath as I start monkeying down the pipe. _Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down._ When I'm about halfway to the ladder, I couldn't help but look down. Immediately, I snap my head forwards and continue slowly making my way to the ladder. _Come on, Chandler. You can do this. It's just a stupid pipe; compared to the rigorous training you had to go through, this should be a cinch!_

I turn back around to see how far I've come and, suddenly, I see three big, black rats crawling on the pipe and they do not look very happy to see me. With efforts to avoid being eaten alive, I quickly pick up my pace and try to monkey across the tunnel as fast as I can. _Shit!_ I'm four or so feet away from the ladder and I've run out of pipe. _I've misjudged the distance!_Slowly, I start swinging my foot upwards to try to reach the ladder but I'm too short! I look back behind me and the rats are getting closer! _Okay! Time for all of those flips and stuff you learned 7 years ago! Hopefully your skill hasn't abandoned you, Chandler!_

I notice a tiny ledge right next to the ladder so I decide, impulsively, to aim for that instead since it's a bigger target. I swing my legs back as far as I can to gain momentum and then release the pipe as I tuck my knees to my chest. I flip once or twice, I'm not too sure and stretch out my arms to try and reach for the small ledge. However, instead of grabbing it with my hands, I bump the corner of the edge with the bottom of my chin, most likely busting it open before clamping my fingers around the ladder's rail.

_That wasn't so hard, was it?_

Even though my chin is in terrible pain, I refuse to give up. Vincent needs me. I just know it! Holding my chin as I run down the tunnels, I eventually see Vincent slowly making his way down the path. "Vincent!" I call for him and he looks up to see me, his face in lots of pain. I ran to him and immediately, he falls to the ground. Forgetting my own pain, I notice the large blood stain surrounding the side of his torso. Without thinking, I slip his shirt off, causing him to grimace. "I'm so sorry!" Whatever weapon was used against him wasn't a normal blade. His skin is melting around his wound as if he was touched with some kind of poison.

As I try to figure out what I need to do, he mutters, "Warehouse…we…we…need…to…get…to…warehouse…."

"But I don't know where that is!" I panic and place his shirt over his wound to try to stop the bleeding.

"I'll…I'll show you…." He replies and tries to stand up.

"Vincent, you're too weak!"

"I'll manage…" he whispers and starts walking again. I pick his shirt off of the ground and hold it against my chin as I offer my weight to help him walk. _You can't die on me, Vincent! Just hold on! Please hold on!_

**Beauty and the Beast**

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: **DUN DUN DUHHHNNNNNN!

I know this probably seemed rushed and I'm sorry but there's this certain place I want the story to go to and so I'm kinda rushing through the 'before' chaps so we can get to the good parts!

Anyhoo, review! :)


	9. Part 9

**Author's Note**: In regards to my final update to Undercover Disaster, I got the sense that people didn't like it? I'm curious…was it too different? The style? The way I ended it? Please, comments are welcome. As a story as a whole, I understand some of its chapters weren't as good as the rest but for those of you who are reading it for the first time, I implore you to read the entire story before making your opinion of the work. Believe me, there are parts in that story I didn't like either…parts I thought I could have written better and so on.

New fanfiction up under _Women of Letters_. My friend and I are writing this mega CW crossover and would love if you check it out! It's called **Something Bigger** and it is listed under _**Supernatural**_ x _**Beauty and the Beast**_**, 2012. :)**

**LESS THAN A WEEEEEK! :)**

Thanks! :)

**Now, on with the story! (**ง**'̀-'́)**ง

* * *

**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Nine_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Last time….**

_Even though my chin is in terrible pain, I refuse to give up. Vincent needs me. I just know it! Holding my chin as I run down the tunnels, I eventually see Vincent slowly making his way down the path. "Vincent!" I call for him and he looks up to see me, his face in lots of pain. I ran to him and immediately, he falls to the ground. Forgetting my own pain, I notice the large blood stain surrounding the side of his torso. Without thinking, I slip his shirt off, causing him to grimace. "I'm so sorry!" Whatever weapon was used against him wasn't a normal blade. His skin is melting around his wound as if he was touched with some kind of poison. _

_As I try to figure out what I need to do, he mutters, "Warehouse…we…we…need…to…get…to…warehouse…." _

"_But I don't know where that is!" I panic and place his shirt over his wound to try to stop the bleeding. _

"_I'll…I'll show you…." He replies and tries to stand up. _

"_Vincent, you're too weak!" _

"_I'll manage…" he whispers and starts walking again. I pick his shirt off of the ground and hold it against my chin as I offer my weight to help him walk. __**You can't die on me, Vincent! Just hold on! Please hold on!**_

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Vincent's POV**

None of this was supposed to happen. I never wanted to involve Catherine in my personal issues but here I am, leaning on her for support as we stagger towards the warehouse. I know it's risky showing her where I live but I feel like it's the safest place at the moment. "Almost there…" I say weakly as I point towards the ladder up ahead. "The…warehouse…is just above…that ladder."

"Are you sure you'll be able to make it there?" Catherine asks, worried for me. "I don't think I can carry you if you faint…"

"Don't worry," I try to laugh even though it hurts like hell, "I…I'm stronger…than…than you think."

"That may be, Vincent but…you can barely stand…. It's obvious you were stabbed with something ominous…but…"

"Let's just…get to the warehouse, yeah?" I state, not really in the mood to be hearing _anything_ right now. Whatever is in my system is really bothering my senses and I think I might go crazy if Beast doesn't show up soon. Something is wrong—I can't feel his presence. When we reach the ladder, I tell Catherine to go up ahead of me because, if there is a chance I'll fall, I don't want to fall on top of her.

After a good fifteen minutes of dragging my feet up the ladder, towards the entrance and into my living space, I collapse on my bed and groan loudly. "Catherine…" I mumble in pain, hoping she was near.

She grabs my hand and mutters, "I'm here, Vincent. Tell me what to do."

I know I'm not a scientist like JT but without knowing what this poison is, I don't think there's much I can do to stop the toxin from spreading in my body. However, I was a doctor so I can at least stop the poison from further damaging my skin. Instead of telling Catherine what I plan on doing, I sluggishly sit up and slowly walk towards my medicine cabinet. I know Beast is AWOL but…if I don't do something soon; _I_ am going to be the one that's AWOL.

"Vincent, y-you need to rest!" Catherine panics.

"No." I reply. "I've got to do this….H-however…" my breathing hardens, "you…you need…to…get out…of here…."

"I'm not leaving." Catherine states firmly. "You might need me!"

Not having much energy to argue with a persistent woman, I nod and open my medicine cabinet. As I look for Lidocaine, I mentally curse when I cannot find any. So, instead, I pull out a sanitized scalpel and a blow torch. God, this is going to hurt. "Get…get me a cloth or something…a sock…or a shirt." Without questioning my motives, she races off to look for a cloth while I carry the items to my bed. In minutes, she returns with a clean sock but she doesn't know what I plan on using it for. "Okay… listen to me carefully…" I mutter, "I'm g-going…going to put that sock…in my mouth….After I cut off the r-rotting skin…I n-need you to use the blow torch…and cauterize the wound."

"What?! Vincent, I'm not a doctor! I can't…I can't do that!" Catherine protests but I shake my head.

"Catherine, I…I trust you…. Please, just trust me."

**Catherine's POV**

"Vincent, are you sure this'll even work?!"

"No," he utters softly, "I don't…but…until JT gets back from…from…h-his convention, it's the only option I have..." He looks at me with desperation in his eyes before he reaches for the sock. As he places the sock into his mouth, he picks up the scalpel and presses it against his skin. I watch him as he clamps his teeth over the sock and wince in pain while he starts carving off the dead skin. When he starts screaming into the sock, I couldn't bare seeing him in pain. Doing the only thing I can really do right now, I place my hand on his knee to try and comfort him. "It's okay, Vincent! It's going to be okay!"

The second he finishes cutting off the dead flesh, he tosses the bloody scalpel aside and spits out the sock. "T-th-the blowtorch!" he exclaims in pain. I scramble to pick it up, unsure if I can really do this. As I struggle to turn it on, he tells me I have no other choice. I give him back the sock and he jams it into his mouth again, ready for the pain. _Here goes nothing…_

I turn on the blowtorch but hesitate as I bring it closer to his body. Just as I am about to give up, he anxiously pulls on my hands and screams painfully as the flame touches his fresh wound. His skin bubbles and melts; the scene is almost too repulsive. To my surprise, he spits out the sock and, through clenched teeth, he says, "H-hand it to me!"

"What?!"

Before he responds, he takes the torch away from me and presses the flame against his side to heal up the process. He wails in pain as his flesh burns and molds together. I can swear I see his eyes starting to glow in response to the pain. In seconds, I am not dealing with Vincent anymore—I am face to face with his Beast as he flings the torch away and the rest of his wound heals on its own.

He looks at me, seemingly confused, and cocks his head.

"It's okay, Vincent! It's me, Catherine! Remember?" I try to cup his face but he backs away and growls at me. "I won't hurt you." Just as he seems like he's about to attack me, his eyes return to brown and he falls to the floor. "Vincent!"

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: I know, another short one and probably not as good as it could be. I've just had a long week but wanted to post something. Hopefully when BATB returns, I'll have more inspiration. Please Review!**


	10. Part 10

**Author's Note**: I am so sorry for the long wait! I've been super busy with life and such but here's the next installment! :) BTW, LOVED LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE! What are your thoughts on it?

PS, this chapter was a rush-write, so sorry if it seems rushed in places. ^.^;

*******New fanfiction up under _Women of Letters_. My friend and I are writing this mega CW crossover and would love if you check it out! Crossover fandoms include: _Beauty and the Beast, Supernatural, Smallville, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Arrow. _ It's called **Something Bigger** and it is listed under _**Supernatural**_ x _**Beauty and the Beast**_**, 2012. :)*****

Thanks! :)

**Now, on with the story! (**ง**'̀-'́)**ง

* * *

**Title** | _Shadow Bound_

**Fandom** | _Beauty and the Beast (CW)_

**Description** | Story takes place on the day of Vanessa's death in Vincent's POV. It is my theory of how Vincent arrived to the scene of the crime!

**Rating**| Unless specified, chapters will be rated T for cursing, blood & violence, sexual references, and/or whatever else I decide to throw into the story. If specified, certain chapters may be rated **Mature** for explicit love scenes. Chapters that are rated **M **will have a warning for any audiences who wish not to read M-rated chapters. If anything, read at your own risk!

**Disclaimer** | While CW owns _**Beauty & the Beast**_, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.  
(Hey! That rhymed! ^_^)

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

_Shadow Bound_

_Part Ten_

_Keiko Fujiwara_

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Last time….**

_Before he responds, he takes the torch away from me and presses the flame against his side to heal up the process. He wails in pain as his flesh burns and molds together. I can swear I see his eyes starting to glow in response to the pain. In seconds, I am not dealing with Vincent anymore—I am face to face with his Beast as he flings the torch away and the rest of his wound heals on its own. _

_He looks at me, seemingly confused, and cocks his head. _

"_It's okay, Vincent! It's me, Catherine! Remember?" I try to cup his face but he backs away and growls at me. "I won't hurt you." Just as he seems like he's about to attack me, his eyes return to brown and he falls to the floor. "Vincent!" _

**Beauty & the Beast**

**Vincent's POV**

Catherine told me it had been three days since I collapsed. I didn't want to believe her but considering the fact that JT called this morning to say he was on his way home from California, I had no choice not to. When I suddenly woke up a few hours ago, she told me that she never left my side. She mentioned she was worried for me—_me_. Because she missed four days of work, I urged her I would be fine so against her desire to stay, she willed herself to leave, knowing she needed to make an appearance. I remember performing emergency surgery…on my own body. I don't think I'll ever forget the pain of carving my own flesh and melting it with a blowtorch. It was excruciating!

So far, JT knows nothing about what's going on and I would like to keep it that way. I don't need him to know that I've gotten in contact with Catherine Chandler nor that I've been infected with some strange venom. The less he knows, the better everything hopefully will be. Earlier today, when I was feeling up to it, I drew out some of my blood and tried to analyze it. I'll never be as good as JT but at least I have some general biological knowledge to make a basic analysis.

As I took a look at my blood sample, I couldn't identify anything out of the ordinary but I decided to give JT the final say just in case. He doesn't have to know the backstory behind the blood sample in order to analyze it. I mean, I feel fine and definitely do not feel as crappy as I did a few days ago so maybe Beast healed it?

"I'm back!" a voice says, causing me to freeze. "How are you feeling?" I look over to the door and see Catherine walking towards me. Without asking, she sits next to me on the couch and coils her arms around right shoulder.

"Much better than earlier." I smirk, causing her to roll her eyes.

"I meant how do you feel health-wise?"

"I know what you meant." I reply candidly. However, she didn't laugh or smile. She was serious. "Catherine," I say as I turn my body towards her, "I feel fine. I think…_he_…did something to the poison."

"But you don't know for sure, do you?" Damn, she's smart.

"No."

"Then how do you know the poison isn't affecting you right now?" Catherine asked, worry displayed all over her face. I stand up and pull her to her feet before placing my hands over her shoulders.

"Catherine, I was once a doctor. I believe I am fine but if I do start feeling out of sorts, I promise you'll be the second to know."

"Second?" she raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Why not first?"

"Because," I caress her face with both hands, "You forget I have two minds in this body, yeah? So naturally, Beast will be the first one to know aside from me." Laughing, I add, "You are more than welcome to compete alongside the Beast if you're _that_ jealous of him." She places her hands on top of mine and brings my palms to her lips, feathering kisses on each knuckle.

"Believe me," she smiles, "I have no reason to be jealous."

"Is that so?" I joke but suddenly, she frowns. "What's wrong?"

She inhales deeply and leads me back to the couch. I sit down on the center cushion and, to my surprise; she sits in my lap and starts combing her fingers through my hair. "Vincent, you really scared me…"

She must be talking about when the Beast took over as I was trying to cauterize my wound. "Sorry…I didn't…I didn't hurt you, did I?" I wanted to ask her this all day but couldn't find the right moment to.

"No, Vincent. You didn't." she flashes a smile before frowning again. "I wasn't referring to your transformation or to your beast. You…erm he doesn't scare me. When I said you had scared me, I meant…I meant when you passed out after cauterizing your wound. I was worried something was going to happen to you…I didn't tell you this earlier but you were running a high fever for several hours after you lost consciousness. You were sweating and shivering all at the same time! I never left your side because I was afraid something would have happened the moment I stepped away." She mutters, her hands caressing my face now. "I know this sounds crazy because you and I only met a few days ago but you're the first thing in my life that actually made sense. Not to mention the fact that you're the first decent guy I've had in my life in a really long time."

"Catherine…" I mumble but she places her finger on my lips.

"I'm not done yet…" she replies in a low whisper, her face inching closer towards mine. "The moment your fever broke and you had stopped responding violently to the poison, I never felt so relieved in my life."

Before she can say another word, I place my hand on her lips and stop her from talking. "First of all, it doesn't sound crazy. Remember, you and I didn't just meet a few days ago. We've known each other for four years…sure we only shared a small glance with each other but it still counts in my books. "Second, as you can see, I'm okay, aren't I? So you don't have to be scared anymore." It meant a lot to hear that she isn't afraid of the Beast. I never thought I would ever hear someone, aside from JT, say that to me. Especially someone I kinda sorta just met.

As she leans her forehead against mine, she mutters, "I could never be scared of _you_ or your beast, Vincent. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to stop being scared _for_ you." I look up at her with confusion so she clarifies. "I'm afraid that Muirfield—the group that did this to you—will eventually find out you're alive…and that they'll try to hurt you again. What if something like what happened in the tunnels happens again but next time, your wound is fatal?"

"Hey," I whisper as I run my fingers through her hair and wrap my arm around her tiny waist, "I'm a better fighter than you give me credit for. Besides, Beast is a fighter that adapts to its mistakes." Suddenly, I felt Beast's consciousness punch mine in the gut before giving my mind a stern look. _'What?!' _my mind shouts, _'It's true! Believe or not, Mr. Sensitive, you're not perfect.' _Beast snarls and bares his teeth but I ignore him _and_ the headache his fist gave me.

"Vincent, are you all right?" Catherine asks me as I grip my head.

"Yeah," I say, "the Beast is just…being a headache. Word of advice: never sign up to be a part of a military experiment.

To my surprise, she presses her lips on my forehead and mutters, "Better?"

"A little." I reply "Hey, by the way, ever seen _Indiana Jones: Raider of the Lost Arc_?" Smirking, I hope she takes the bait but she raises her eyebrow instead.

"No…should I have?"

"Ahhh…Forget it." I laugh, mentally embarrassed.

"All right, if you insist." She shrugs before she leans really close to me and mutters, "By the way," she crinkles her nose and adds, "I _have _seen _Raiders of the Lost Arc_, Indy." Damn, this woman is unpredictable! "Catch me if you can!" she playfully shouts as she whips her hair against my face. I decide to give her a head start since I know I'm going to win anyways so when a few seconds pass, I leap off of the couch and chase after her. She sees me catching up to her so she circles around the table with hopes of slowing me down but I'm a manimal (as JT said once) for Christ's sake! I could see her moves coming!

Instead of chasing her around the table, I run the other direction, meeting her full force. She bumps into me and almost falls backwards but I pull her forward to stop her from falling. "You're a bit playful today." I observe and she smiles back at me.

"I guess I'm just in a really good mood." She laughs as she inches closer to me.

"Is that so?" I curl my upper lip inward. "That wouldn't have anything to do with me, would it?"

"Hmmmm…Maybe." She says as she shifts her eyes upward as if she has to think about it. "But I do know what would make that mood even better." She adds as she steps onto her tippy toes and encircles her arms around my neck. Naturally, my hands wrap around her waist and pull her closer to me.

"Oh yeah, what would that be?" I ask, pretending to play dumb.

"I'll give you one guess." She mutters softly, her hot breath tickling my chin. Instead of answering, I take a chance and lean inwards, pressing my lips against hers. Our mouths mold together and our hands explore each other's clothed bodies. As she wraps her legs around my waist, I press my fingers into her back as if we were still miles apart from one another. Wanting more of her, I walk towards my bed, with her still latched tightly onto me, and lean us onto the mattress. She immediately breaks away and pulls off her shirt, telling me she wants _it_ as much as I do. In response, I yank my shirt off and kick off my shoes and jeans before lining myself on top of her. She snakes her arms around my shoulders and locks her fingers together around my neck. I continue to kiss her, feeling her legs wrapping themselves around my waist again, this time, however, our bodies moved in rhythm.

Suddenly, I hear a loud noise and look away for an instant. "Did you hear that?!" I ask, panicked but when I turn to look at Catherine, she isn't in the bed! "Catherine?" I immediately jump out of the bed and look for her. "Catherine, where are you?!" The room starts spinning and everything feels hazy. However, I continue in search for her. "Catherine, this isn't funny! Where are you?!" My surroundings feel estranged—distorted. My body is covered in sweat and every fiber in my being is in pain. I hear another sound and see a figure…I can't make out…walking into the room. My first instinct is Muirfield.

Despite my pain, I summon Beast and confronted the figure and grabbed its neck as I slammed it against the wall. "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER?!" I shout, angry and pissed off. "WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Vincent!" I hear her cry out, her voice strained. I look around, trying to find the source but I can't sense her!

"WHERE IS SHE?!" I scream once more but suddenly realize my hand wasn't around a Muirfield agent's neck—it was around Catherine's! And she looks frightened. Immediately, I release my grip and back away from her. "I-I'm so sorry…"

She rubs her neck and falls to her knees. Bruises are already showing up. I watch her as she coughs and gasps for air. What have I done?!

* * *

**Keiko Fujiwara: **I bet you didn't see that coming did ya?! And you thought his sickness was over with. ;) Review please! :) Also, please let me know if you are confused.


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